I Hate Camp, No, I Love Camp!
by mademoiselle-cosette
Summary: Maximum Ride is being sent to a camp, by her mother. She is extremely miserable, but will a certain dark-haired Mr.Rock teach her to appreciate everything? How will things turn out for the summer? FAX FAX FAX! R&R
1. Chapter 1

Camp Dreamz

I couldn't believe it. I refused to believe it. My own mother was sending me off to a camp. 'A camp to realize my dreams and accomplish them: Camp Dreamz'. What in the world was that supposed to mean? It was lame enough for people to try and help me 'grasp' my potential, but to think it made it sound cool to end a name with 'Z'. Yup, definitely wacko.

I was driving there with Jeb, my dad, but I prefer to call him Jeb. His brownish blonde hair was combed back and mixed in with a few grey streaks. But, I never thought of Jeb as old. His face was set with the disapproval of me going to camp and not seeing me in a while. He and my Mom had argued before sending me there. Mom was for it and Jeb against it. He loved having me home and so did Mom. So why was she sending me here? Sometimes, I don't understand adult's minds, you know?

Every now and then, I would peek at my father's face. His lips were arranged in a stubborn line. A permanent scowl was on his face, but his eyes were the most pleasant thing in the world. They were like melted chocolates and it was easy to look at the bright side of things when you got lost in them. Those were one of the many things I was thankful to share with him. I had his hair, attitude, interest you name it. Once every five minutes, my father would glance at me and ask if he wanted me to turn back, despite Mom's intentions. But, I would just say no, because the argument he and my mom had went on forever. I wouldn't want to just waste it.

Who knows? I might actually like camp, if I was patient enough. And we all know how good I am at _that._

As we were crossing the line of states, I couldn't help but notice how different Arizona was from California's San Diego. There was more deserted area, instead of busy streets. I always thought of Arizona as a desert with tumbleweeds and whatnot. It was filled with greenery and bushes- kind of like what a camp would need. Jeb suddenly stopped near a sign saying ''Camp Dreamz: Realize 'em!'' *gag*

We started to unpack the trunk and I looked around, realizing it was _too_ green. Not the-garden-sunshiny-green, the damp-it's- gonna-rain-soon-green. Now, I'm not really a snobby city girl. I like a challenge and that's why I love hiking and outdoorsy type things. Yet, this place was covered in bushes, shrubs, trees, vines, you name it. I was surprised I could actually read the sign.

As if reading my thoughts, Jeb said ''Oh come on, Max. It's not that bad. You'll learn to appreciate the um, killer vines,'' he looked around too, ''and them mud puddles every, you know, metre.''

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. He leaned in closer and whispered ''Watch out for any quicksand!''

Giggling, I fished out my last bag and looked at my dad.

''You'll do fine. When they're done with you, consider yourself realized of your dreams.'' He made air quotes for the last part. I sighed. He was just trying to lighten my mood and support me, even though he hated the idea of sending me away.

''Yeah, well, tell Mom I love her, kay?''

''Will do. Come here, kiddo.''

He gathered me in a warm hug. I wasn't much of a huggy person, but since I wouldn't see him in a while, I put one arm around him and gave him one of my rare Max hugs.

''Love you.'' he whispered.

''Love you too, Dad'' I whispered back.

We broke apart and started off to where the signs were asking us to go. It wasn't like a rainforest, but it was close enough. Mud was splattered on my combat boots and shins. My predictions of it being a damp, rainy area were right. Soon, tiny droplets of water hung in my hair because there was a slight drizzle and Jeb and I caught the raindrops that fell through the trees. This was like hiking and I liked it, despite my promise- which I made to myself- to hate this place as much as possible. I breathe in and Jeb smiled. ''We're searching for cap headquarters, not hiking.''

I look at him and went back to walking the trail. After ten minutes or so, we found camp headquarters. It was a small building, painted beige. The red porch held an assortment of chairs and a coffee table placed in the middle. Regardless of the weather, it looked inviting enough. Suddenly, a guy's face was visible from a window and he appeared in the doorway. He was twenty something and wearing camping shorts and a button-up shirt, I could see he was really into the whole camp thing. Nonetheless, he had kind eyes and smile.

When he saw us, he opened his arms as if Jeb and I were his long-lost best friends. Beside me, Jeb grinned and walked forward. I stayed where I was and took the opportunity to look at camp.

''Don't mind her. Just observing.'' I could hear Jeb assure.

There was a lake nearby, where the clearing the areas was cleared of all trees. It reminded me of a nice oasis. Beside it were the cabins and they were close to each other so the campers could open their windows and talk through them. Many already were. They looked comfortable. Lucky for them! I noticed there was a climbing wall with water spilling down from the top- like a waterfall. There were many obstacle courses too. I was actually starting to like this place. Huh.

Jeb and they guy were too busy talking to notice me frowning. From the corner of my eye, I saw a woman escape the doorway and come to stand near them. She had red hair and a pretty face. But, for some reason, I didn't like her. Now, I'm not usually that picky of people, but this lady had such an over-confident face that I couldn't help but wonder if what it would look like if I decked her. I turned to get a better look that the trio.

Jeb was close to saying goodbye and leaving. The guy kept talking about how I would definitely like it here and all the things camp had to offer. The lady was listening intently on their conversation and smiling once in a while. From what snatches I got of their conversation, I learned that guy's name was Alex and the lady's name was Brigid Dwyer. My father gave Alex my paperwork and turned to stand beside me.

''I got to go now, kiddo. I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Follow Alex and Brigid around, they'll show you your cabin and your scheduled activities.''

Woah, woah, woah. They already had me scheduled? So, all I would we doing was what _they_ wanted me to do? No time to myself? This was going to be a long two months.

I think I must've looked pretty depressed because Jeb added '' You'll have tonnes of time to check the camp out too. Plenty of free time. ''

''Whatever'' I grumbled.

I turned to Alex and Brigid. They were staring at me curiously, like wondering if I was a trouble-maker, or something. Yet, Alex's eyes said, _Oh well, go on and have fun! _While Brigid's said, _I'm going to keep an eye on you._ I glanced back at Jeb who was getting ready to leave and had already taken a few steps back on the trail. He waved and I did too. I stared off until he disappeared.

Then, I remembered Alex and stepped towards him, introducing myself. I tried not to glare at Brigid.

''I'm Alex Abate, director of camp and activities. This is camp's, um, nurse you could say.''

I shook hands with Brigid. ''I'm actually a scientist studying the woods around camp and its many plants. But, since almost every day, a camper comes to me with an injured arm or leg I became a sort of doctor. I don't plan on staying long.'' She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

I smiled back too and tried to say something nice back, but words wouldn't escape my mouth.

Alex, who noticed the tension- and wanting to break it-, spoke up. ''Yeah, so how old are you Maximum?''

I looked at him. ''Fifteen, but my birthday's coming up in a few weeks. You can call me Max- Maximum's a mouthful. But, Jeb prefers it.''

''Oh, wonderful. We'll try to celebrate your birthday here then!''

''Um, no, that's not really necess-''

''Come along!'' He started off towards the cabins, not even acknowledging he interrupted. Gosh, forget what I said about liking it a weensy bit- I hated this place already.

I stalked off towards him, but Brigid stayed behind. _Good, _I thought.

Alex stopped at Cabin #7. It was pretty middle-sized. There were four bunks, and a single one beside window. I could tell people had already been here and picked their bunks. The single one was vacant which was a surprise, so I took it and stashed my stuff beside it. I'd put my clothes and essentials in the bed-side drawer later. Sitting on my bed, I took another look at the cabin. There was a small bathroom at one corner. Everything was pretty neat. Thank God.

''I hope you'll like it here,'' Alex said. ''I placed you in with people who are almost you're age. Lissa is fifteen. Monique's twelve. Alicia's sixteen and so is Felicity.''

He looked at me to make sure I was listening. ''Um, okay. Thanks.''

Alex explained to my schedules, when lunch and dinnertime were.'' Don't miss it. We will be taking roll there.'' He gave me my schedule paper and left.

I read it.

_Daily Schedule for Miss Maximum Ride_

_8:30- Breakfast. _

_9:00-Rock climbing_

_10:00- Music with Fang and Iggy (bring instrument if possessed.)_

_11:00-Breaktime. _

_11:30- Swim in lake or volleyball._

_12:30- Lunchtime._

_1:00- Baseball _

_2:00- Self-Defense or Fencing_

_3:00-Breaktime_

_5:00- 6:30- Hiking in woods_

_Notice: Dinner is at 8:00. _

_Follow your schedule. It has been arranged according to your interests. Fail to attend any event will receive an hour of kitchen duty. If unable to attend an event, discuss this with camp director, Alex Abate. Changes may occur if needed. Thank you for your co-operation. Have a great summer at Camp Dreamz!_

My blood boiled. How did they expect me to 'attend all events' if I barely even knew the camp? And who the heck were Fang and Iggy? Were they like a band or something? I was frustrated, angry, and confused. Never a good combination with me. When I had gotten to the part where it said that events were plan according to my interests, I almost tore up the paper. My parents- my Mom was up to no good again. I didn't like half the things on the schedule! But, since I wasn't going to be petty, I decided not to ask Alex to change the list.

Instead, I would go through this stupid schedule, like the responsible almost sixteen-year old that I am. *laugh*


	2. Chapter 2

I had the rest of the day to myself. Apparently, a new camper didn't have to follow his/her schedule the day he/she came to Camp Dreamz. ''Think of it, as a holiday before the fun begins.'' Alex had explained.

''Yeah, because what's a nice summer without work!''I had muttered under my breath.

So after I had unpacked and arranged my stuff in my drawers, I headed off to explore camp.

It was a nice place, I guess you could say. Everyone wore the camp uniform, a yellow T-shirt with the words, Camp Dreamz written on it. Everywhere I looked, I would see kids doing obstacle courses, playing volleyball, doing gymnastics, etc. I had figured this was just a summer school, but had the word camp instead of school, in the name. But, no. Okay, they had me there.

I didn't know where I was going. Maybe to find the second thing on my schedule. I looked back at the paper I possessed in my hand. First was breakfast- I knew where that was, since I had time to ask around. It was at the food-court, which was right behind the headquarters building. The next thing was rock-climbing. I knew where that was too, since I had gotten a glimpse of it when I first came here. Then, my eyes scrolled down to 10:00. It was after rock-climbing, at 10:00. I read it aloud.

''10:00-Music with Fang and Iggy. Bring instrument if possessed.''

Okay, now I'd have to find the music building, I guess. A camper was sitting on a log; she was near from where I was standing, so I walked over.

She had pretty brown eyes and a friendly smile. Her skin was a nice gold-brown tan and her curly cork-screw hair was bundled into a ponytail. She too, was wearing a yellow T-shirt. The book she was reading lost her attention when I came up to her. I'd say she was about twelve or thirteen.

''Um, hi. I'm new here. Sorry to interrupt, but could you tell me where I have to go for music with Fang and Iggy?'' I asked.

''Hey! I'm Nudge, nice to meet you. Wow! Another new one, huh? Jeez, we have alot this year. So you need help finding Fang and Iggy? Are they on your schedule too? Maybe I can just show you around then. '' she trilled.

Did all the campers speak so fast? I had barely processed what she had said when she stood up and peeked at my schedule paper.

''Mmm. Yes, you have quite alot of classes with me. If you'd like I could show you around.''

She looked at me, hopefully. I guess she was bored, so she wanted to do something.

''Um, yeah. Thanks a heap.'' I said.

''Great! Come on. We'll start with the events you have which don't involve other campers, because they have busy schedules, now. I'll introduce you to the music guys, Fang and Iggy later. The volleyball coach, Jaz, well, she has campers now. So does Kevin, the self-defence guy. Maybe at dinner. Lunch passed by two hours ago.''

''Okay, but don't you have classes?''

She laughed. ''Nope, I have a break. I think I'll show you around the whole camp before it ends.''

It had taken half an hour when Nudge showed me where I would take my self-defence class, where the volleyball court and baseball diamond were and the music building. My favourite was the self-defence room. It had a huge number of wicked looking things to beat people up with. Cool, right? Plus, I had ever taken an actual martial arts class, but I was a really awesome street fighter.

Soon, it was 6:30 and sadly, Nudge's break was over. She had to go for the camp's day-by-day hike.

''The whole camp goes. Everyone, including Alex, the counsellors, campers, etc. Think of it as an add-on to my break. I love hiking. Do you like it? I think you do, you seem like an outdoorsy type girl.'' She babbled.

''Oh, that's cool, I guess. Sure, I love to hike.'' I answered, trying to keep up with her hasty conversation.

''Well, I think you should come. You might make other friends,'' she smiled. And, secretly, I felt good to hear her say 'other friends'. That meant she counted me as her friend. ''And you can meet Jaz, Iggy, Fang and the others. They're about your age. How old are you anyway, Max?''

''Fifteen, but my birthday's coming up soon.''

''Really? Fang's birthday's coming up soon too.''

We were walking towards the woods, were several other campers were waiting for everyone to arrive. I spotted Alex and Brigid. Alex was talking to some of the younger kids, smiling. Brigid was talking to a guy who was about my age. From where I was standing, I could see he had really dark hair. He was wearing all black clothing but it didn't look weird on him, like it did on Goth people. It suited him. I could tell he was really interested on the conversation he was having with Brigid. He kept nodding and when a guy with strawberry blonde hair came up to him, his eyes didn't waver from Brigid's face. For some reason, I found that annoying.

''-and he's really nice and talented. Have you met him yet? Hello? Max? Are you lis-''

''Who's that?'' I pointed at the guy, not even acknowledging I interrupted Nudge, which come to think of it, was pretty rude. But, she being the good-natured babbler that she is brushed it aside.

''Oh, that's, 'she squinted. ''The guy with the dark hair?''

I nodded.

''That's Fang, the guy I've been talking about while you just stand there mooning over him.'' She giggled.

Before I could respond with a snappy comment, she added, ''He's also the person who conducts camp's music events with Iggy, the guy with the strawberry hair. Tonnes of girls are falling for him. And why shouldn't they? He's just great that way. Why'd you ask? Why do you care? Wait, you don't-''

''No, of course not! I haven't even met him yet!'' I said, a little too defensively. Yup, that's me! A happy defensive camper! But, I was blushing furiously.

Nudge looked me up and down. I guess she was trying to figure out my type. Like if I was one of those girl who just crush on any guy who walks past them. But, back at school, I never was that kind. In fact, i had never had a boyfriend, but I knew a couple a guys who were hitting on me. (Yuck!) I'm pretty sure Nudge read that. She smiled, suddenly and led me over to the camp.

When we reached the campers, I caught Alex's eye and nodded, grinning slightly. Maybe he was happy I had made at least one friend at camp, and not been a complete loner. Nudge look over to where I was staring and waved. She was just so cheerful and pleasant that way.

We made it to the centre of group, without me noticing. Oh no. Nudge wouldn't. She just wouldn't embarrass me that way, would she? She tugged my hand (which she had been using to lead me) when she sensed me slowing down and looked back. The expression she saw on my face must've read '_Freaked out. Please STOP_!' because she laughed and said, '' Oh, come on, Max! This way, camp will know that you're new here. You might make some new friends!''

I would've snarled something like ''What if I don't want to make friends?''. But then I realized that would've sounded stupid and sad. Plus, we had already gained the spot of embarrassment.

''Hello campers and counsellors! Today, I made a new friend! Her name is Max-'' she stopped at and whispered to me. ''Last name?''

''Ride'' I whispered back.

''Her name is Max Ride! Actually she told me it's Maximum, but she prefers Max. She is a new camper and I hope most of you will find the friend I have found in her. Thanks for listening, guys! Nudge out.''

I figured that was pretty sweet of her to say, but I didn't have time to realize it then, because I was too embarrassed. I felt like slapping her, but then remembered she was my friend and not many people would like me if I showed them my violent side first. So, instead I smiled and waved. A murmur came from some campers.

A girl with red hair and startling green eyes came at the front and crossed her arms. I could immediately tell she was the snobby kind, so I glared at her. She was a wearing a preppy red tank top, despite the camp's uniform and black skinny jeans. Pursing her lips, she looked me up and down, as if deciding if I could be as mean as her, or whatever. ''Well, I hope she was worth the speech.'', she said.

''Don't worry. I was.'', I said sweetly, but I think, just spit balling here; it came out more like a snarl. Well, great.

She narrowed her eyes and was about to say something when the guy with strawberry blonde hair interrupted. ''Well, can she play?'' He was clearly asking Nudge.

''Um, maybe. Max you said you had music with Iggy, right?'' Nudge questioned, looking up at me.

''Mhmm. And with that guy you were talking about, Fang.''

''Well, do you play anything? Guitar? Piano? Drums?'' Strawberry Dude, asked.

I hesitated. I used to play drums, but that was a long time ago. The last time I touched a drum set was when I was thirteen. But, I did sing a bit.

''I can sing.'' I stated.

The Red-Haired Wonder came forward, tossing her (I hate to admit it) brilliant hair, expertly. Show-off. ''Well, so can I. Anything else you can do, hon'?'' she challenged.

''Oh, trust me. There's a lot I can do, an' you do not want to be part of it.'' I said grimly.

She actually stumbled backward and gasped. Good. I was scaring her.

Alex then, out of nowhere, came up and scowled. ''Okay, Lissa. You can take the clue and lay off, right about now.''

I was flabbergasted. He was yelling at- *cough, cough, splutter, gag* What did he just call her? Lissa? As in the Lissa I would be sharing Cabin #7 with? Oh, gosh. Gosh, gosh, gosh, gosh. I had spend the entire summer bunking with this _witch? _The world just ended before your very eyes, folks! (Oh, wake up! I was just kidding!) No, no, no. There had to be a mistake. If I was lucky enough, maybe there was...

I didn't know what I was more surprised with. The news of the Lissa disaster or Alex yelling at the witch instead of me, when clearly I threatened her. The petty side of me was screaming: _But she started it!_

Oh, well. Suck up the news, Maximum.

Nudge grabbed my arm because I was in too much shock, to notice the camp had started to walk off in a secured group towards the woods. We were almost at the rear and she was scrambling to come in the middle.

Once we where were Nudge said she liked to be positioned at, she glared at me and beckoned me to come over.

I crossed several tree branches and almost slipped and fell, because of some wet moss. My feet were once again, sheeted in mud and grime and I was reminded that I hadn't washed off since morning, when Jeb and I had hiked to get to camp. Thinking of Jeb made me feel sad, but when I saw Nudge with a concerned, yet confused expression the thought slipped from my mind.

''What?'' I asked when I finally reached her.

''What happened back there?'' she inquired.

I squinted. ''What do you mean?''

''You froze up when Alex told Lissa to leave you alone. What you don't like the name, Lissa? I don't. Actually it's because I don't like her. Very few people do.'' she shook her head, as if trying to remember what she was talking about, a couple seconds ago. ''Anyway, it was like her name freaked you out. You just sort of stopped and stared of in the distance. What? Where you gazing at Fang again?''

There was that name again. Who the heck was he, anyway? I knew Nudge was teasing, but it was only half-hearted teasing. Like, she somehow believed that I _would_ be 'gazing' at the guy. Well, whatever. I didn't.

''Okay first, I 'froze up','' I made air quotes. ''because that witch is sharing a cabin with me. Alex told me when I got here. He told me my cabin mates. So when I heard _she _was Lissa, I just had a moment, okay?''

Nudge was about to say something, but I cut her off. I needed to stop doing that, I know.

''Second, who is this Fang guy anyway? All I know is that you think he's irresistible and girls fall for him like that. You said he was Mr. Talented. You said Fang- you know what kind of name is that anyway? _Fang.''_ I asked, frustrated.

''A name too cool for anyone.'' said a husky voice, followed by small chuckling.

I whipped around and my hand almost smacked his face. It brushed of his hair and his fixed it with a small flip of the head.

''Huh?'' I asked, a bit confused. But when I saw his face, that incredibly hot, sexy, gorgeous, and flawless face, I felt like he was my own personal God of Beauty. Oh, God! Someone put me in a rubber room _now!_ I've officially gone _nuts!_

''You asked what kind of name is Fang. Well, there you have it. Also, it happens to be _my_ _name_.'' he chortled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for taking to long to write. I was going through a writer's block. =P But here's the chapter! **

''I-um. That's, uh, a cool name.'' I stuttered in a very small voice, which I swear I had never used in my life.

He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and smirked. I couldn't but notice how toned his arms were. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a grey T-shirt. His sneakers were also black. But I refused to look at his face. I might've made a fool of myself, stumbling over slippery moss, or worse. Call him hot, gorgeous- whatever- in my mind again and maybe even blurt it out.

''Hey, Fang! Woah, you scared me there! Can you _not_ try to freak people out when you sneak up on 'em?_'' _Nudge laughed. ''Oh, Fang have you met Max? She's another new camper here, I just met her today. I remember she got put in music.''

She looked at me and beckoned with her eyes. I got the feeling she was laughing inside of how I reacted when I saw Fang. Hey! In my defence, he literally sneaked up on us. But, her face also said, ''Say something, aready!''

He shrugged and this time I did look at his face. ''So how are you liking camp so far?''

''Uh, it's nice.''

Why couldn't I form a proper sentence? Come on! This was Maximum Ride, we're talking about! He was just a guy. A guy who had eyes like dark midnight pools of water. Woah. I blinked several times and suddenly wished I had something else to look at or talk to. Something to distract me.

Nudge glanced at me. ''Come on, guys. We're almost at the back again.''

We hiked some more, talking on the way. Fang tried to make small talk, but it was Nudge who did most of the talking. So I knew he was the silent type.

''Fang here is from LA. He came here a few years ago and does music with Ig. Every summer, when he comes to teach, girls throw themselves at him. Now, Lissa's _supposedly_ going out with him. At least that's what she keeps telling everyone. It's totally ridiculous, but that's Fang for ya. Sometimes he says he'd done with girls, but he can't expect us to believe that.'' she laughed.

''Well, can we talk about something else now?'' Fang said, a bit annoyed but also playfully. ''Max, where are you from?''

''San Diego. My mom put me here. Home's a bit far off, but she said it was worth.'' I shrugged.

''Do _you_ think it's worth?'' he asked, amused. He said 'you' like he actually cared about my opinion. I decided I liked him.

I thought about what he asked. Camp was not bad-it wasn't exactly what I expected which was a school. Yet, I was still a bit bitter with my own mother just dumping me off here, like she didn't want anything to do with me all summer. I hated the fact that she forced me against my will too. Have I mentioned I don't get adults? I believe I have.

''I have to think about that. I mean, Mom send me here against my will. I still don't know how I feel about that. And besides, it's not like I can say by only being here for not even a day.'' I replied, thoughtfully. Part of me thought that Fang and Nudge would get a bit peeved if I said I didn't love their happy place like they did. Although, they nodded and continued to hike.

-A few minutes later-

''Max, right?''

I turned around and peeked who was talking to me. But, really, I couldn't care less. Even though several other campers had started to pant and whip out water bottles, I hadn't broken a sweat. Fang wasn't so bad himself. He weaved through the trail unerringly and almost silently. Every once in a while, he would disappear off the trail and into the trees. I and Nudge would search but, then we would turn around and find him leaping of a branch with a sly look on his face. We seemed to share the love of hiking-that was clear. So considering that this place was pretty tough and the biggest challenge I had had in a while, I was in the zone.

But what I saw in front of me was Lissa, playing with a strand of her hair. I would've laughed at how her designer shoes were drenched in mud, yet the smug look on her face wiped me clean of amusement.

''What?'' I snarled.

She smiled her creepy smile. ''Wow. No 'Hi'. No 'Hello'. No 'How you doin?'. People are not going to like you if you keep behaving like such a brat. I'm already starting to think you don't like me!'' Lissa pouted mockingly.

''No shit, Sherlock.'' I growled. Yes, I had absolutely no problem telling her I hated her the first day I came to camp. I guess I'm just wonderful that way. It's not like she got offended anyway. I already knew she loathed me. No biggie. I tend to have that effect on people.

''Yes, well, guess what? I don't like you either,'' she narrowed her eyes and her tone turned from mocking to serious. ''I notice you talked to Fang. Well, now _people_ can't think you're stealing him away from me, can they? Usually he hates talking to girls, other than Nudge and of course, me. But you seemed to have changed that. That's why I want y-''

''Okay, first of all, _people_ don't like you. Much less care about if I _steal_ Fang away. I just met him. So you can just shove it,'' I took a deep breath, just warming up. ''Second, I'm not into him anyway. So don't you go telling me what I can and can't do.''

''Oh really?''

I nodded.

She straightened up and put on hand on her hip in a girly way. ''Yeah, so um-I. That's such a cool name. _Fang.'' _she exclaimed in a high pitchy-like voice, which I'm pretty sure I had never used on Fang. Then she flipped her hair and giggled.

Anger flared through me. She was accusing me of two things. Hitting on Fang, who I just _met_, for crying out loud! And worse, talking like an absolute girl. Gross. No, double gross.

But then, I thought of how I secretly thought Fang was ho- _good-looking_ and how we both liked to hike and how I imagined myself drowning in his beautiful dark eyes... I mentally slapped myself.

''Don't think I don't notice it, Ride.'' I flinched when she said my last name. She must've actually listened when Nudge gave her embarrassing speech. Maybe Lissa was trying to find out everything about me, so she could bring stuff against me. What a stalker! ''From now on you don't mess with me, okay? You stay away from him.''

''And if I don't?''

She gave the freaky smile again. ''Bad, bad things happen.''

''Why you little-'' I brought my hand back to punch her. I couldn't believe she was black-mailing me. Or at least attempting to. Back in San Diego, I had no bullies. I was the tough girl who had few friends and stuck to her guts. Sure, most people thought I was just a loner, but I didn't care. Guess I'm just the badass type, huh?

Nonetheless, my fist never came down on her sick, evil little face because a voice called my name. Fang's voice. I stopped what I was doing and looked back.

On the hill, a bit far away, Nudge's and Fang's figures were visible. They were waving at me to come to them. I glanced back at Lissa, who was smirking in a way that tempted me to rip her insides out. Maybe I could just get the job done and walk back nonchalantly? Yeah, that was a good idea. But, before I turned around, Fang had raced down the hill and came up to us. He was so fast, so agile, so smooth, so hot- Snap out of it, you sap! You're no better than Lissa here.

''What's going on? Max, we were searching all over the place. Where've you been?'' he asked, swishing his fringe to the side.

I wanted to say, talking to this psycho bag of snot. But since, he was supposedly going out with her, I shut up. Yet, in my mind, I couldn't get over the fact that Fang here, so unlike Lissa on a whole different level, was dating her. How could he stand it? I remembered he had asked me a question. ''Talking.''

''Well, almost the whole camp went back. Come on, we got hurry up. Dinner's going to start.'' he said.

''Fine!'' I barked. He looked a little surprised and I was sorry about that, but he'd interrupted me. I was seriously pissed off.

So I turned on my heel and stormed off, leaving a stupid Lissa and a very taken aback Fang, behind. Nudge was waiting for me on the hill and she looked scared. ''What?'' I snapped before I could stop myself.

She turned and slowly said, ''You met Lissa, I see.''

I nodded, scowling at my first experience with the witch.

''I know she's a monster, Max. But you shouldn't be beating her up on your first day, _or_ losing your temper and scaring the heck out of me.''

I couldn't help but smile. ''I'm scary?''

''Only when you're mad. Your eyes look like their about to shoot lasers. Your teeth look like they're gonna bite someone's sorry head off. And your hands clench and unclench, like your itching to wrip off a tree of the ground. Otherwise you're fine.'' she finished, smirking.

''Sorry, I won't _scare_ you anymore.'' I giggled, despite my anger.

She smiled and led me over to the cafeteria. It was a huge, gigantic building not unlike camp headquarters. Campers were lining up to get their food in their little green trays. Benches were spread out before the long tables and several kids were already at them, eating. It wasn't as noisy as the one I had at high-school, which was okay by me. I hated noisy places. I spotted Alex and Brigid sitting on benches which were a bit far off from the kid's tables. Beside them, were a bunch of teenagers eating. They were all out of uniform. Nudge saw me looking.

''Those are camp counsellors. They take care of the daily activities.'' she pointed.

''Why're they out of uniform?''

She shrugged. ''Since most of them are older and practically adults, they can choose. Uniform or no uniform.''

Wait a minute, Fang was out of uniform. He was wearing all black. He was an adult. Panic started building in me for or no apparent reason. ''Fang, he was out of uniform.'' I managed.

Nudge looked at me. ''Yeah, he's one of the counsellors. But, he's just fifteen. He got put in the music department with Iggy who's also an underage counsellor. Usually camp doesn't let kids do the counselling stuff, but seeing as Fang and Iggy are really, really good, they got it. You should hear them play. It's really awesome.''

''Mmhm, yeah okay.'' I said not really listening. I had stopped hearing what she was saying when she finished the second sentence. So he _was_ fifteen. My eyes scanned the counsellor's tables for the dark figure of Fang. I couln't find him. But I saw the boy with the light strawberry hair. What was his name? Iggy?

Suddenly my neck prickled. I felt someone's eyes bore into my back. Nudge yelped and spun around-like me.

''Will you _quit _that?'' she squealed.

He regarded Nudge and I, calmly. I was starting to get a bit annoyed how he did that. ''Quit what? Breathing?'' he asked calmly.

''You know what.'' I said, rolling my eyes.

His eyes shifted from Nudge and bore into mine. It took all I had to not cringe at the intensity of his gaze. He didn't look angry, just irked off.

''What were you thinking back there?'' he asked steadily.

I knew what he was talking about, but being the stupid idiot that I am, I tried to play innocent. ''What do you mean?'' I stated, attempting to avoid his eyes, but he grabbed my shoulders and put me back.

''You were going to bash Lissa, weren't you?''

''No.'' I sneered.

''Max, I saw your fist. I know she was annoying you, but guess what? She does that to everyone! So you just forget about it for now-leave it when you're not at camp.'' he smirked.

I gulped. He was okay with me smashing that witch. Just not at camp. Maybe he wasn't going out with her after all.

''He's right, Max. You can get in alot of trouble. She's on the brink of becoming a counsellor.'' Nudge put in.

''What? Lissa? A counsellor?''

They both nodded, although they too, seemed disgusted by the idea.

''So now, just try to get on her good side.'' Nudge warned.

I rolled my eyes. ''Yeah, that's going to happen.''

**A/N : Hey guys! Thanks for reviewing! I know, the ending's a bit edgy. But I ran out of ideas at that point. If you guys could give me some, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'll update soon. I hoped you guys liked that chapter. It was okay by me. Not that great, not too bad. Lemme know what you think! Review (:**

**-MRforever44**


	4. Chapter 4

This was my first class/session/event/(whatever they call it at camp) at camp. I'd been here almost a week and had gotten away with doing nothing but talking to Nudge and Fang. When people saw me not in a class/session/event (_WHATEVER!)_ I just lied saying that I was new and this was my first day. Nevertheless, yesterday, Alex had caught me wandering when I was supposed to be in a class/bla/blah/blah so he warned be that I'd better start with everything.

''Okay, cupcakes! You know the routine! Stretch off first, then head of to the wall in twos. No pushing, no shoving, and no- Oh, you know the rest! And, go!''

I stared at the person who was giving of instructions. He was a stout little guy who had a sour look on his face, like he ate something bad. Even though, it was the middle of summer he was wearing a thick, fleece running suit. He had combed back his gray hair- well, if you'd call combing back about three hairs, _combing_, then sure. I wondered why it wasn't one of the camp counselors instructing.

Coach Lano (coach Lamo, as some of the snobby kids called him) was nowhere near what I had thought of the camp counselors, when I'd see them at the cafeteria. For one thing, this guy was about thirty something, while the others were teenagers or young adults.

As if reading my thoughts, Fang beside me murmured, ''They picked him 'cause they'd no choice. If you ask me, he's a bit too harsh to be a counselor. But Alex thought camp needed a good coach for rock climbing. '' He shrugged. ''Many kids hate it, so they need to be pushed.''

''Not me.'' I smirked.

He raised one dark eyebrow, amused.

''You two, back there! Fang? Fang, don't make me come and get you! No slacking off just because you're one of the counselors! You're still a camper and you have no excuse of saying that you have counsellor breaks. You used all of 'em, today! Get your underage butt in line!'' he yelled.

I looked at Fang. His usually impassive face had a wave of annoyance on them. But I was trying to hold back my laughter. Fang hated it when people thought of him as an underage counselor- _which he was-_ but I found it hilarious.

''Coming coach!'' he grumbled, starting to walk forward. Then, he glanced at me. ''Let's see how you like to climb, Monkey Girl.''

I frowned at my new nickname and walked past him, leaving him chuckling behind. Getting to know Fang had its ups and downs. I'd known him for one week and already, it felt like I knew him forever. He was annoying, sneaky, too silent for his own good and hated to talk. But he was also a talented musician (from what I'd heard around) ,a lady's man (still irritated by that fact, though I've no idea why) ,helpful, kind, nice to me, cute, hot, sexy, gorge- Crap! When did I become so interested with guys anyway? The tiny voice in my head screamed, _When you saw his face! _But, that's a little too cheesy for me to understand, let alone believe.

Right now, Fang was standing next to me holding a sly expression on his perfect face, as if sensing my thoughts.

According to what Coach Lano said, two parteners had to work together to reach the top, which was rare. _We'll see about that, _I thought. I'd done plenty of things exactly like this before. Fang didn't seem too hard to work with either. All he had to do was not make annoying comments and he and we would _own_ this.

I watched a kid who was about Nudge's age twist around the sharp edges and clinging onto the rocks. Her partner wasn't paying her attention, stuck wth her own problems. I could tell she would slip soon, by how she was handling the wall. Apparently, at Camp Dreamz (still hate that name) has a thing for challenges. So, basically they went overboard, which was fine with me. The girl had no harnass on to steady her if she fell. No cord. No safety jacket. Do the math and that equals falling and crashing to the floor in a clumsy-like manner. Yet, I still wasn't scared. Huh. _I am soo badass_!

The little girl suddenly, lost her grip on the next ledge, yelped and sailed to the ground. I winced, worried, if she was okay.

It was our turn, next. Fang looked at me, like saying, _You sure you want to be first? _I grinned deviously, in reply.

Then I walked over to the wall glanced back at Fang, who was staring at me intently. I shrugged and faced the wall again.

I placed my hand in the small crack and levered myself to reach the next one. My fingers closed around the handholds and soon, I had almost worked my way to the mid-section of the wall. Taking a small break, I looked at Fang who was just a few feet below me to the right. He felt my eyes on him and squinted at me, the sun shining on his olive skin. ''You getting tired, already, Monkey Girl?'' he taunted, showing off his lop-sided grin.

I rolled my eyes. ''In your dreams.''

We both climbed for about fifteen minutes. My eyes raked up to see how much more of the wall there was. I think we were almost there, at the top. Fang and I had gotten a bit exhausted over the time. I could hear Fang's heavy breaths, which he usually tried to hide, but I'd noticed, anyway. And, I knew he could hear me groaning when it took me a while longer to find a foothold.

''You sure you wanna go till the top?'' he would ask, time to time.

''Nu-uh. I wanna set a record here and you're going to help.'' I would always reply.

The wall became more and more steep and there were few places to put our feet in. I knew that I probably looked like a huge mess, because of the wind. Although, through the times I peeped down at Fang, he looked just as good as he always did. *notice how I didn't say 'hot'. I'm getting better, aren't I?* Except his hair was a bit messy, but that only made him look hotter. *DAMN! Will I ever get used to him?* The people below were barely visible, but I had a feeling they had a look of awe on their faces, since Fang and I'd almost reached the top.

All of a sudden, I heard a yelp. Then, stupidly, I realized it was me. My left foot hung in space, clearly, because I had slipped. Crap. Despite me trying to control it from swaying too much and avoiding throwing off my bodyweigtht so I wouldn't fall down from this high, I scrambled for a foothold. My eyes struggled to find a proper crack but there was none. I saw a glimpse of Fang's face. It had a look I'd never seen on it._ Terror_. His eyes were wild, trying to find out my problem.

''Max! What's wrong?'' he shouted.

''God, Fang! Do you _not_ seeing me trying to find a crack?'' I hissed. By now, I was holding onto the ledge above me with my fingers. I tried heaving myself up and hoisting myself with my elbows, but that just caused me to slip more. _Clumsy Max_.

''Just.. just hold on! I don't see a crack anywhere! Stop struggling, Max! You're gonna fall splat!'' he yelled through his teeth. ''I'm going down. When you hear me tell you to, jump! Don't wait, 'cause then, uh, you'll...''

''Be dead?'' I suggested.

His dark eyes lasered through mine. ''You are _not_ going to die, Max! Just shut up! I'm going down!''

''What? No!''

''Going down is easier than coming up. Just stay put and when I say go, jump!''

I swallowed. He wanted me to die? ''You are by far the most nuttiest guy on the planet!''

But, he was already on his way towards the middle. I watched from the corner of my eye if he was okay. He slipped many times, yet he got a foothold just in time. My arms were starting to get numb from holding on my weight and I felt my shoulders burn in disapproval. I just ignored it, though. Soon, Fang had finely, made his way to the ground, where I heard cheers.

''Max! Max, can you hear? DAMN, I need a bullhorn!'' I heard him swear among the crowd. Somehow, his voice was crystal clear and I could form out every word coming from his lips as if he were whispering them in my ear. *Okay, that sounded soo perverted.*

''Fang, when I come down, you are soo dead for leaving me up here!'' I screamed.

I'm pretty sure he heard me, because when I'm pissed off, I get loud too.

''Coach says it would be best if you jump Max! Just jump on three, okay?'' he shouted.

I didn't believe it.

''Max? Just trust me, okay? Max?''

I hesitated. This guy wanted me to plung to my death? WTH?

''Whatever.'' I shouted back.

I don't know how, but I could hear his chuckles as if he were right next to me.

''On three, Max, just trust me!'' Fang reminded me.

God, what a creep...

''One,' he began.

... that he wants me to jump of a 50 feet (yes, it was really 50 freaking feet. Maybe 70, I don't know) wall...

''Two,''

... Oh God, Fang, you pscho...

''Three!''

...What were you going to do? Catch me?...

I let go of the wall, my whole arms aching sorely. Wind rushed past my ears, popping them, but right now, all I could think about was this would be a stupid way to die. So I just closed my eyes and prepared for the crash.

But, turns out. There wasn't a crash. It was more like a warm pair of arms wrapped around me. I breathed in and out. Mmmm. It smelled like pine. Not the kind of pine scent that people put in cars, to make it seem fresh. The pine that came out of hiking and sitting out in the woods for a long time. I breath more of it and burried my face in the soft cloth beside my ear. To my pleasure, more woodsy scents came out of it. I heard an ''Ooof!'', but didn't dare open my eyes. This dream might fly away.

Then I felt a cool breath on my cheek and a strand of hair fell on my face. But it wasn't my strand of hair.

''Uum, Max? Max, you can open your eyes now... and stop burrying your face in my shirt.'' said a voice. Fang's voice. And he sounded embarassed.

My eyes whipped open and immediately I noted how close Fang's face was to mine. This close up, I could see the gold specks in his eyes that made them look warm when he smiled. I could see his straight nose. I could see his full lips. I could see his thick eye-lashes that were so lush I wish they made blankets like them. I could see his amused, but shy eye-brows raised. I could see his sharp, angular cheekbones. I could see his dark hair falling towards my face as he continued to peer anxiously at me. I could see his forehead creased with worry. I could see everything I'd missed when I tried avoiding to stare at him. So, long story, short, I could see how sexy he was. *Okay, now I know I sound perverted. But, you try not admitting that when a mouthwatering guy is staring at you, up close! It's hard!*

Realizing he was way too close to me, Fang cleared his throught and lifted his head. ''She's okay... I think. She's not talking, though.'' he told the crowd which I'd just noticed. When Fang and I were face-to-face, all I could see and hear were him.

''Yes, I can.'', I said hoarsely. Fang gazed back at me, but this time kept his space. ''And now that I can, I think it's appropriate for me to tell you that you are the most impulsive, nuttiest, freakiest, and stupidest guy I have honestly ever met! But, um, thanks for, getting me.''

He grinned at me and put me down. It was then I started to wonder. He'd caught me? When I dropped? Like, in his arms? Me? In his arms? In front of people? So, yes. My wondering quickly, transfered into panicking. Although, I was washed clean after Fang gave me a look and beckoned me to come follow him.

This period was over. The campers started to head off, looking excited by the change of events. I would have my next session after, but I'd have to wait. Fang was waiting for me a bit away from the receding crowd. But then he saw me hesitating. I didn't want to be late.

He sighed, already starting to walk. ''What? I caught you from 70 feet and you still can't cut me a few minutes?''

I shuddered. ''Yeah, I'll come. 70 feet? Seriously?''

Fang shrugged. ''You weigh nothing.'' he noted.

I blushed and looked away.

''How?- what? I just don't-'' I stuttered, trying to find the right word, but I wasn't even sure I wanted to talk about it.

Thankfully, Fang shut me up with a single look.

''I thought you'd fall,'' he said quietly, steadily. ''That if I didn't move fast, you'd...''

He trailed off, wincing.

''Yeah, I know.'' I said, uneasily. ''But the good thing was I didn't. So there. Fang I have to get to the next-''

''Max, just listen.'' Fang said, abruptly stopping. ''I- I don't think you should do rock-climbing anymore.''

My eyes widened. He didn't think I had what it took? Even after I'd told him that I liked this kind of stuff and was good at it? Hell, this was probably the most funnest thing at camp, compared to all the other boring events. I almost made it to the freaking top! I pulled back, stung.

''No, no. Not because you don't have what it takes or anything,'' he assured, back-tracking and walking to where I stood. ''It's just, well, you push yourself way too hard, Max. Most people would stop once they reached the mid-section.''

I shrugged, not looking at him. ''I'm not like other people. I'm better.'' I said spitefully.

Fang's eyes flashed. His mouth twitched into a snarl and his clenched his fists. ''Listen, I'm only trying to keep you safe-''

''Well, I'm not a safe kinda girl, now am I?'' I exploded.

''No. Apparently not! Because safe people wouldn't be that stupid and brainless!'' he hissed and I could feel his eyes going through my face. But, I still kept my eyes away from him. I might give in too easy if I did otherwise.

We stayed silent for a few seconds. Him glaring at me and me staring at a nearby rock, my **_Me Mad_** vibes rolling off hard. But then he just sighed.

''Max, I'm just trying to help.'' he said in a softer voice.

I continued to stare.

''Maybe if I was there to make sure if you were okay.'' Fang murmured.

I considered it. Fang thought that I would get hurt easily if I pushed myself to hard (which, heloo? I did all the time.) and the ended up hurting myself. He thought I couldn't handle my own freaking self! And he just freaking met me! Although, having Fang in my rock-climbing session all the time and not only when he had counsellor breaks seemed like a fun idea.

''Well?'' he asked.

I looked at him and grinned. ''Fine.''

His eyes lit up. ''Really? You're not going to go into grumpy mode again?'' he teased and I poked his shoulder.

''Nope.'' I said.

**A/N: I hope you guys that liked that one as much as I did. LOL, so pleeease review! I hate to see when people add my story to their favourite stories' list but THEY DON'T FREAKING REVIEW. It drives me nuts ^.^ So please if you don't want your beloved Fang obsessor to die, REVIEW!**

**And if you're too busy to, atleast leave like a smiley face or somethings. **

**(: If you're happy with the story.**

**): If you're not happy with this story.**

**:D At the end you were laughing at Fang's and Max's stubborness. And how Fang was trying to reason.**

**D: BOOO! you suck! LOOL XD **

**O.O If you liked the part where Fang catches Max from seventy feet. (AAAAWWWW)**

**3FAX3 If you want more FAX in chapter 5. **

**THANK YOU SO MUCH! **


	5. Lissa Gets Hurt By Max! :D

''So, we have a deal?'' Fang questioned, not taking his eyes of me.

I rolled my eyes. ''Sure, we do.''

''_God_! Can you just wait for me when you start rock-climbing? I don't want you doing anything rash.'' he grumbled, annoyed with my lack of interest.

''I won't, Fang! Gosh, I thought we were moving on?'' I mused, looking at him side-ways.

He grinned slightly and pointed at a nearby building.''Speaking of moving on, Nudge said you had music, right?''

I nodded.

''Well, come on, then! I'm gonna be late!'' he said and grabbed my arm.

We ran up to the building and when we reached inside it, I was impressed. Every single space was covered in a musical instrument. Guitars, keyboards, drum sets, violins, flutes, you name it.

I let out a quiet breath. ''They do _not_ kid around when they say this is the music room.''

Fang rolled his eyes and whispered. ''Yep, I play guitar, drums and sometimes sing. Iggy does most of the instructing, even if that means fooling around. Come on stage. First timers always start.''

''Wait, _what_?'' I yelped when he locked his fingers around my wrist and pulled me towards the stage at the back of the room.

I saw many kids and teenagers eyeing me, like saying, _Is she worth? _Well, I wasn't! I was **not **going to sing or play or any other thing which involved embarassing myself. But, Fang was victorious when he'd placed a mic in front of me. He then, plastered a smug look on his face and leaned on the wall, partially hiding himself in the shadow.

I clenched my fists and stared at the crowd. My fingers closed around the mic.

''Um-hi, everybody. Uh, my name's Max.'' I was sort of lost for words, so it only made me more nervous when I heard Fang chortling in the corner.

_I swear when I'm done, you won't have the guts to open your stupid mouth ever again! _, I thought.

As if hearing my adventurous thoughts Fang stepped out and whispered, ''Nudge said you sang.''

I thought back to the day when Nudge had made the embarassing speech about me. She'd announced that I was in music and Iggy had asked if I played anything. I'd replied that I sang a bit, even though I used to play the drums a few years ago. And I was pretty good at them too. Maybe I could just play the drums? But then who would sing? It'd be wierd if I didn't sing along so I chose one of my favourite songs by my favourite_ I-don't-give-a-crap_ artist, Avril Lavigne. What? She was okay...

''Can I play drums and you back up with guitar?'' I whispered.

Fang's eyes widened he looked surprised. ''Drums?''

I nodded and smiled.

He shook his head, but said ''Okay. Which song though?''

''Smile by Avril Lavigne.'' I said.

Fang grinned and went to whisper something in Iggy's ear. His eyes lit up and he smiled. Together they walked back on stage and Iggy came over to whisper, ''You plays drums? And you never told me?''

I blushed and went to sit behind the huge drumset at the back of the stage, while Fang and Iggy grabbed the electric guitars. By now the whole room was filled with late-comers and it was full. I spotted a flash of familiar red hair. _Lissa_. Well, this was going to be interesting.

I searched around and found black drumsticks nearby. Fang and Iggy were waiting for my cue. I caught a glimpse of Fang's face. It had a wierd look of wonder on it. He seemed so confident and not at all freaked out like I was. Well, that was because he was used to it!

He felt me looking and I gave him a nod. Immediately he started playing the perky guitar that the song needed and Iggy joined in.

I remembered the lyrics and started to sing:

* * *

><p><em>You know that I'm a crazy chic; <em>

_I do what I want when I feel like it;_

_All I wanna do is lose control,_

_Oh, oh._

* * *

><p><em>But you don't really give a sh- <em>

_Ya, you go with it, go with it, go with it, go with it; _

_'Cause you're like a crazy rock 'n roll;_

* * *

><p>I didn't really know what I was feeling at that point. So, I thought back to when Fang said I was a bit nut-like at times. And he just went with it. Only sometimes had to stop me- like from rock-climbing.<p>

* * *

><p><em>You-ou said ''Hey, w<em>_hat's your name?'' _

_It took one look and now I'm not the same;_

_Yeah you said ''Hey'' __And since that day, __You stole my heart and you're the one to blame; __Yeah!_

* * *

><p>I prepared my drumsticks for the chorus which had the most drums in it.<p>

* * *

><p><em>And that's why I smile;<em>

_It's been a while;_

_Since everyday and everything has felt this right. _

_And now,_

_You turn it all around;_

_And suddenly, you're all I need,_

_The reason why,_

_I-i-i, I smi-i-i-ile._

* * *

><p>Fang was now the only reason I needed to be here at camp. He and Nudge but surprisingly, mostly just him. *Sorry Nudge! But you're not the incredibly cute guy in the scenerio, are you?* If he wasn't here at camp or I'd never met him, I'd be leaving the day I came. But he <em>was<em> here. And that's the only reason why _I_ was still here.

* * *

><p><em>Last night, I blacked out, I think;<em>

_What did you, what did you put in my drink?_

_I remember making out and then,_

_Oh, oh._

* * *

><p><em>I woke up with a new tattoo,<em>

_Your name was on me and my name was on you;_

_I would do it all over again._

* * *

><p>I would relive every moment I'd had with Fang if I could. (Especially when he'd caught me!) He was funny, smart, charming, amazing- *Okay, I'm gonna stop before I take it to hot, sexy, etc.*<p>

* * *

><p><em>You-ou said ''Hey, what's your name?''<em>

_It took one look and now I'm not the same._

_Yeah, you said ''Hey''_

_And since that day,_

_You stole my heart and you're the one to blame._

_Yeah!_

* * *

><p><em>And that's why I smile.<em>

_It's been a while._

_Since everyday and everything has felt this right._

_And now,_

_You turn it all around,_

_And suddenly, you're all I need,_

_The reason why,_

_I-i-i, I smi-i-i-ile,_

_The reason why,_

_I-i-i, I smi-i-i-ile._

* * *

><p>I slowly finished the song and Iggy turned to give me a thumbs up. The crowd went all crazy and some were even chanting my name. (Wonder how Lissa feels now? Hehehe...) But those weren't the opinions I cared about.<p>

Fang was still turned facing the crowd, holding the guitar. I wish he would just turn and tell me how was I. So, it seemed like ages before he whipped around and instantly, caught my eye.

My breath caught when I saw how intense he looked and how huge the lazy smile on his face was. Without thinking, I dodged around the drumset and walked up to him, sweeping him into a hug. At first, he was surprised, but then his strong arms came up to hold me to him.

''You were breath-taking,'' he whispered hoarsely in my ear.

''Look who's talking.'' I said back.

He slowly, almost reluctantly, *Was I imagining that?* let me go and went to speak into the microphone.

''Well, I'm most certain you guys enjoyed that,'' he said, giving me a second glance. ''I'd no idea why the _idiot_ never told me she could sing and play the _freaking_ drums! Wierdo.''

The crowd murmured and giggled, causing Fang to smile.

I felt my knee jerk into wanting to gut him right there, in front of everyone, even though he was just teasing me. Maybe later.

As if sensing my thoughts, he shook his head and continued, ''Well, class is almost over. I see no point in going forward with it. You guys can take a break before the next session. See ya'. ''

Iggy, who was beside me rolled his eyes and said, ''He's _always_ taking breaks.''

I laughed and headed down the stage.

As I was just leaning down to grab my bag, I saw a pair of designer jeans and red high heels walk up to me.

''Well if it isn't Miss Drummer.'' said the stupid cat-like voice.

I sighed and put my bag over my shoulder. It was Lissa again. Why couldn't she just leave me alone, before I knocked her out cold and dragged her body around camp, laughing wth glee? She was scowling.

''What do you want?'' I said testily.

''You dead. I'll wait for Christmas.'' she shrugged, but narrowed her green eyes. ''Stop trying to steal him away.''

I exploded right there, right then. ''What the crap are you freaking talking about? You're not even _dating_ the poor guy! Just leave Fang alone and away from a _witch like you_!''

She cringed a bit at my voice and opened her mouth to say more, but I cut her off.

''Isn't it enough I've to put up with you in my cabin? _Like really_!'' I yelled.

But I regretted bursting out loud when Fang came over to me and stood between the trembly Lissa and fuming me.

''Max. Apologize.'' he said steely, in a voice he'd never used on me.

I scoffed.

''Do it now, Max. Or Alex _will_ get involved.'' he stated. But his eyes said different. They were almost pleading and I have to admit, I caved in a bit.

''Sorry.'' I mumbled and heard a satisfied 'hmmp!'

''About time.'' Lissa said behind Fang.

He rolled his eyes, not letting Lissa see.

And the next moment was a blur that I wasn't even sure I saw correct.

Lissa dug her hand in Fang's shoulder whirling him around to face her. When he was right in front of her, she leaned up and stuck her lips on Fang's. Her hand snaked its way across Fang's chest and up his neck, to get tangled in his hair. Then, before I had even blinked, her mouth went square over Fang's lips and she giggled. Her other hand was planted on his neck. The _only_ decent thing to here was Fang wasn't returning the kiss. His arms weren't around her like hers were and his lips didn't move. _But, you know what_? Despite Fang's unenthusiasm, I was still boiling mad.

And that was the understatement of the century, folks. _I was out to kill_- that seemed about right.

Before I could stop myself, my hand shot out and grabbed Lissa's hair and she shrieked, thankfully letting Fang go.

I brought her to face me and said through my teeth, barely containing my anger. ''If you ever touch Fang again, you won't have your head the next freaking day. You hear me?''

She whimpered and nodded her head, eagerly.

''And if you tell anyone about this,'' I continued, practically spitting out my words. ''I will say that you were trying to get Fang raped. _'Cause that's exactly how I saw it_.''

I gave another pull on her hair and threw her away the next second. She picked up what was left of her dignity and left without another word.

Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god, oh, god.

Fang was silent the whole time, yet when he turned around, his eyes were ablaze. It took all I could do to not cringe.

''What?'' I said quietly.

He took a step towards me and I lowered my gaze to the ground.

''Max,'' he said calmly. When I didn't look at him, he sighed and went on. ''What just happened?''

I continued to stare at the ground, but the next moment, two fingers formed under my chin and tilted my head up, to meet a pair of gorgeous dark eyes. They had no longer had the trace of anger of ferocity in them anymore. Instead, they were soft, warm and welcoming.

''What, Fang?'' I asked, still mesmerized by his eyes. *Okay, I don't know who's talking now. Me or my evil, softy, non-badass twin.*

''You just grabbed Lissa by her hair...,'' he sounded amazed. ''And threatened her..''

I swallowed, my brain slowly starting to turn to mush. ''Yeah, so?'' I managed.

He grinned and suddenly his arms were around me, crushing me to him. I gasped but my hands found their way around his neck.

''You just told her off, Max. Something I haven't got the guts to do every since I came to camp and she started throwing herself at me.'' he mumbled into my ear, softly, still clutching me.

I wanted to protest saying I did this kinda thing everyday, but he cut me right off.

''She was just about the closest thing to hell for me and you just grabbed her by the hair and snarled at her.'' he chuckled softly. ''Well, she won't bother me again.''

He let go of me. ''Or me.'' I added, without thinking.

His face formed a puzzled look which slowly turned sly. I had a feeling he knew I hated her, just because she was Fang's girlfriend. Sorry, I meant _EX_- girlfriend. I wasn't exactly the jealous type, especially when it came to guys, but when Lissa had crushed herself to Fang, I had inner turmoil.

''Max, if you were je-'' he stopped himself just in time, when I gave him my glare. '' If you were _'annoyed'_ with her, you could've just said, before going all wacky.''

''Oh, but, I wasn't _'annoyed_' '', I said making air quotes. ''I was just afraid she would end up crushing the life out of you if I hadn't '_gone_ _all wacky'_.''

''Right.'' he said, obviously not buying it.

I punched him in the shoulder and he grinned at me. We started to walk away from the building.

''So you're not mad?'' I tried slowly.

He sighed. ''Now, why would I be mad, Max?''

I thought about it. I'd just scared off Fang's _living hell_ and here I was thinking he was angry with me, for no reason._ Oh, but there is a_ _reason_, taunted the annoying part of me.

''When she ran off, you had that- that wicked look on your face.'' I mumbled.

Fang shrugged. ''It was because she'd kissed me. She's never ever gone that far, before. Guess she was really pissed with you.''

''Oh.'' was all I said, in a small voice. ''But then why were you mad before she kissed you? You told me to apologize.''

He shrugged again. ''Max, she could've reported to Alex. I was just mad 'cause you caused trouble for yourself again. If you apologized you would've saved yourself- which you did.''

I stopped abruptly.

''What?'' he asked, walking back to me and searching my face.

''I had to say sorry to her, just so Alex wouldn't get pissed off? Fang, _are you crazy_?'' I yelled.

He smiled, deviously. ''I'm friends with you, aren't I?''

That was when I decked him.

**SO? How was it, guys? LOL, I feel so proud of myself for updating in one day. Your reviews reeeallly helped. I know Avril Lavigne's not really Max's type. But that song was great for Max's feelings for Fang. Plus, I love the drumming and guitar in it. LOL. **

**I'm not sure if there was a lack of FAX in this chapter. Maybe, I don't know. If you guys thought there _was_ lack of FAX, well, sorry! It's just that I don't want Max to fall for Fang more than she already has in the early chapters. But, I promise you, that in chapter 10, or 11, there will be an _accidental _kiss. You know, like, the one Max gave Fang when he got hurt on the beach? Exactly like that. So don't freak! Next chapter will have Max and Fang in the self-defence class or volley-ball class. Not sure. (:**

**REVIEW! DON'T FORGET!**

**:) You liked it.**

**): Naah.**

**:D You laughed at how Fang called Max an idiot and wierdo. And how Max decked Fang in the end.**

**D: BOO! **

**-.- Boring...**

**:/ Okay chapter**

**O.O You loved the part where Fang said Max was breath-taking at the drums.**

**3FAX3 You want FAX in the next chapter. *funny how I get alot of those, LOL***

**THANKS(:**


	6. Ooh, Fang You messed up, BAD!

**Thank you guys for your happiness with this story. It's what made me write fast. LOL. *_hint hint_* Now, you're probably going to hate this chapter. I won't tell you why. But, there's alot of high emotions towards the end. Any guesses why? _BRIGID! _GOD, I hate her to no end! I didn't want her to be in the story, because of all of the FAX, but Max being mad was my new plotline. I promise, Fang and her will make up in, like two chapters. (Lots of FAX FLUFF) I can't keep them apart. *_sniff sniff_*Yet, for now, you'll have to put up with Brigid, like I did. Oh and for all you clueless people out there, Fang does_ NOT_ have a crush on Brigid. He doesn't! N-O! It's just that she's a scientist and he likes science. (You'll see Fang's cute nerdy side a bit later on ^.^) So for the record, he doesn't like her. Oh and below are some stuff for a few people who reviewed. (:**

**FanficfannafcifnaF** : I'm soo sorry if you like Avril Lavigne. LOL. I like her too, but I didn't really know if Max would like her. Guess I know after reading your review :D But, I just HAD to apologize 'cause you sounded kinda mad when you said that 'Max is too Avril's type!' ^.^

**RawrILuvYou **: Dun' worry, hun. There'll be PLENTY of Fax coming up. ;) Just not much in this chapter... SORRY ! ):

**zammielicious98** : I know right? Wait, till you read this chapter. c=

**RoyalCrown29** : Aaaww, you're too sweet! When you said that you liked how Max and Fang tease and hit each other, I was totally inspired. This chappy has a little bit of that. Hope you like it. Oh and for you dumbos out there reading what clearly says is for ''**RoyalCrown29**'' (LOL) and are thinking that because they do this they don't like each other, well, I also like the fact that they tease and hit each other. It shows that they're not like those too-romancey couples that are all gumdrops and rainbows. Plus, it shows Max's tomboy side.

**Okay, okay, I'll stop blabbing. :$**

* * *

><p>''What's next on your schedule?'' Fang asked, glancing over at me.<p>

I unfolded the crumpled paper and peered. I'd finished rock-climbing and after that, music. The next session was a relief.

''Break for half an hour.'' I confirmed, grimacing.

Fang suddenly walked closer and snatched the paper, right from my fingers. We had this fun habit of picking on each other. He teases me, I gut him. I gut him, he flicks me. (it's more annoying than it sounds-believe me!) He flicks me, I slap him. I slap him, he whacks me. It's a pretty good system. ''Hey!'' I protested, but his mouth just twitched with a grin. He looked at my list, his eyes narrowing every second. Finally, he looked up at me.

''You have all the same classes I do.'' He murmured.

My eyes widened. ''Really? How?''

He handed the paper back to me with a slightly apologetic look, but my eyes were on the schedule. I scanned through the words. ''Show me yours.'', I ordered.

Fang shrugged of his black backpack and scrambled through it. I peeped in and was impressed. Every paper was neatly bundled into small folders and compared to mine, it was heaven. Some stuff even had sketches on them. There were people, a picture of camp, buildings, some nature stuff and even a drawing of me. And it was awesome. *But then again, I _am_ awesome!* I didn't know he was an artist.

''What're those?'' I asked, pointing at the drawings.

He stared up at me, a mischievous look on his face. ''Stuff,'' was all he said.

''Mind showing me?''

''Uh, nope.''

I frowned and reached forward, but he grabbed my wrist and threw it away. ''For another time.'', he muttered, clearly amused.

''Well, I don't see why not now.'' I complained, crossing my arms over my chest.

He continued to fumble through his bag. ''Quit trying to pull a Lissa, Max.'' he said in a bored voice.

I grinned. Usually hearing her name would make me twitchy, but now, I felt so triumphant.

Finally, he found his schedule paper and tossed it to me. I caught it and scanned through what looked like the twin of my paper.

''You have rock-climbing, music, baseball, swimming, volleyball, self-defense and fencing. All with me.'', I mumbled, dazed. ''Well, this is just great.''

He raised a dark eyebrow.

''Note the sarcasm.'' I finished, even though I was practically bursting with joy inside.

He chuckled. ''Am I really _that_ bad?''

''Yes.''

''Well, this way, I can keep an eye on you.'' he countered, smugly.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, groaning. Not this again. After I'd fallen of the rock-climbing wall, Fang had gone over-board with keeping me 'out of trouble', as he put it. Frankly, the only way to have fun at Camp Dreamz (_still_ hating the name) was to be 'in trouble'. Now, it's not that I don't enjoy Fang's company. It's just that I don't want Fang babysitting me all the time. But, I'm not going to say that. He might tease me to no end if I did.

''Hey, is that Brigid?'' Fang asked.

My eyes whipped open. _Brigid. _I hadn't heard that name in a long time. And, I was kept happier that way. Although, when Fang said her name, for some reason, my gut churned and acid threatened to burn my throat.

''Max? Max, you okay?'' I heard Fang's distant voice, hovering next to me.

So, I just sucked it up and moved on. 'Cause I'm cool like that. And because if I didn't I would look like I was ready to be locked in a rubber room. _Not_ a pretty sight.

Apparently, moving on wasn't the best choice. It involved looking at Brigid running up to Fang and I, showing off her brilliant smile. Key word: _Fang_. Her eyes were plastered on him. What was I? A piece of baloney? *Don't judge me for that comparison. I'm not good with words when I'm upset.*

She was dressed in cargo pants and a red T-shirt which was sheeted in mud. Her red hair was bundled on top of her head, into a messy bun. *Why is it that I'm always having issues with red-heads?* She was smiling and panting at the same time. _What? That little run too much for you? , _I couldn't help but think.

''Hey Fang!'' she said, a little too much flavor in her voice. ''What's up?''

To my surprise, Fang gave her one of his rare, flashy, lazy smiles and replied, ''Hey. Nothing much. It was a pretty slow day.''

''Yeah? Well, consider yourself lucky, mister.'' she smirked and poked him in the chest.

I flinched at her touch.

''What happened?'' Fang queried, obviously interested into what his little scientist/doctor/red-head had to say.

Brigid beamed at him, happy with his choice of conversation. Then she looked at the sky and used her fingers to count. ''Well, in the morning there was this incident at the rock-climbing wall. Coach Lano said there was a major problem and I was needed immediately. But then he reported again that everything was fine!''

''Yeah. Thank God.'' I put in, unable to control myself from butting in. ''That major problem was actually me.''

Fang winked at me, deviously and I rolled my eyes. Brigid frowned, upset that I'd interrupted. _Well, good._

''Yes, well. Anyway,'' she continued, much to my dismay. ''Then, there was a problem at the lake. _Gag_, I don't even want to talk about it.''

She shuddered, causing Fang to grin again.

''Volleyball court had two major cuts. Poor kids.'' she said, with fake sympathy. But, apparently Fang didn't have enough brains to realize that, did he?

He just smiled and put one arm around her shoulder and suddenly, I felt completely alone. Don't ask me why- I just did.

''You're always the busy little doctor aren't you?'' he teased and she, to my horror, turned a light pink.

''So how was your day?'' she asked, still a bit red.

Fang shrugged and came to stand beside me. And just like that I didn't feel so alone anymore. Huh. WTH?

''Nothing much going on,'' he replied, scratching the back of his neck. ''Just showing Max around, I guess.''

I froze. Okay, that sooo did me in. He was _not_ showing me around! I knew the camp by-heart, already! Why did I get the feeling he was just trying to impress her? _And why did he have to lie to her to do it?_

I was shocked, angry, confused and strangely, hurt. Never a good combination with me. Shocked because Fang just_ lied _to her. Angry because he wanted to make a good impression with her. Confused because _he wanted to make a good impression with her_. Hurt because- well, the way he said it. He made it sound like I was an annoying new kid who just bothered him all the time. Like he couldn't wait to _show me around_ and just ditch me after.

''I've been here a week, Fang. You don't need to waste your time. In fact, I think I've had enough of you _showing me around._'' I said bitterly, ice dropping from my every word.

Fang blinked- his version of astonishment. His mouth formed an 'O'. Brigid, on the other hand, had a satisfied look on her face. That little slimeball! I refused to be among them any longer.

And with that said, I turned on my heel and left. But, it was all I could do to not turn back around and apologize. A flash of Fang's hurt face kept creeping up in my head. _Yeah, well, you hurt me, Fang_, I thought, sadly. _Just by that one sentence._

* * *

><p><strong>Aaw, man. I hurt Max bad. But I can't fix it. Only Fang can. And he will- don't worry (; <strong>

**REVIEWS! **

**(: You like.**

**): It was okay, but you didn't like the ending. (like me) And you thought it was a bit sad.**

**:D You liked how Max explained hers and Fang's ''fun habbit of picking on eachother''. It was cute.**

**D: Neeh. Too depressing. (LOL. Go ahead. I know it was..)**

**:O You just wish someone would eat Brigid. *Nom, Nom, Nom***


	7. Flicks and Apologies

**Yello! LOL, so I'm happy that you guys were honest in the last chapter when most of you said that it was a sad chapter. Well, it _was _so nobody's blamin' you- not even me! Heck,_ I_ thought it was sad. Well, this one's okay. At first, it's a bit sad, 'cuz Max is upset, but then in the end it's alright. (: Oh and no Brigid. _KUDOS TO ME! _LOL, but uuhm, there is ... Dylan.. ): SORRY! But, no way is Max drooling over him, like she is over Fang! :D Now, let's have a chat with some who reviewed.**

**MaxIsMe : LOOL xD Yeah, you're absolutely right! Brigid should have an accident. *groans* But then that would mean writing her in the chapter. *pukes* (;**

**RoyalCrown29 : Sorry, hun. I can't have Max with Fang in early chappies. Chapter 10 is when all the real FAX begins. (: And, to answer your question, Gazzy and Angel are going to be in the story. Just not Gazzy in this one. And sorry again, 'cuz you said that Dylan shouldn't be in the story. Uuuh. *runs away***

**fangirl : Noope. Fang actually doesn't secretly crush on anyone else except Max. (: **

**zammielicious98 : LOL. Your reviews are soo hilarious. I literally laugh when I read 'em. ;D**

**Dreamin'OfABlondeFang : Oh, yes he di-id. **

**RawrILuvU : Funny you should about ask about Dylan... *shifty eyes***

**Weeell, I'll stop babbling. On with zee story!**

You know that feeling when you're so angry and upset that you just want to shoot out of the sky and end up hitting the sun, warming your bones to remove all the coldness and numbness seeping through your body? And then when you're warm enough, you wait till the sun decides to give a little more and burns you to the bone, leaving just a pile of ashes? And then, you wish that you were some alien would come over and eat you up, so even you're ashes won't have to suffer the anger you're going through at the moment? Yeah, well, if you've ever felt that way, you'd better go see a psychologist, because only one person on earth can feel that way and be sane at the same time. Yep. You guessed it. That person's me- _Angry Max._

Apparently, Angry Max was a little too much for Nudge to handle. When I'd stormed off towards the volleyball court for no apparent reason, I'd spotted Nudge sitting on a rock, yanking on her kneeguards. She hadn't noticed my fuming waves, until I was about twenty feet away. Her brown head snapped up and immdiately, a look between worry and fear was placed on her face.

I rolled my eyes and looked away. I was probably a mess. Not because I'd cried. (Rule #1 - Maximum Ride never cries-ever.) I'd remembered the last time she'd caught me mad.

_Your eyes look like their about to shoot lasers. Your teeth look like they're gonna bite someone's sorry head off. And your hands clench and unclench, like your itching to wrip off a tree of the ground. Otherwise you're fine._

I almost grinned at Nudge's decription of my anger. Well, at that time, I was mad at Lissa. This time, I was mad at... Fang. My badass sexy, mouthwatering, whack-job, best friend.

Finally, I made it over to where Nudge was sitting and sat down, gruffly, next to her. She didn't speak for a long time, which sort of left me alarmed, but I guess she was trying to evaluate how upset I was.

''So,'' she started. ''How was your break?''

I groaned.

''I'll take that as a not so well..'' she finished, grimacing.

Sighing, I told her about what happened with Fang and how he acted like a complete nut-case who didn't give a damn about how I was standing right next to him, while he drooled off of Brigid. Nudge's tawny brown eyes widened and her mouth was forming a silent ''oh''.

''Yeah, so. I just got pissed off and walked away.'' I shrugged.

''Well, Max you know that Fang is pretty close with Brigid. But, it's not like they've dated or anything. No way! Maybe, you're just a little more jealous than you should be.'' she said, softly.

Anger clouded my thoughts and there were alot of colourful words which I could've said to Nudge but I didn't get a chance.

A guy who was about my age walked across the court and stopped where we were. I looked up, clearly annoyed at the interruption. The guy had sea-like turquoise eyes and an easy smile. His tousled golden-brown hair was sticking in every direction, which I personally, thought was cute. The sun was casting a shadow over his defined cheekbones, making him look even cuter. Yet, something about him was off. I couln't figure out what though.

''Hey girls,'' he said, cheerfully. ''You here for volleyball?''

I nodded, an impassive look on my face. Nudge beside me, smiled.

''Hey, Dylan! Yep, I'm here for volleyball! Got my kneeguards and everything! I'm not sure about Max, here. I don't even know if she's in volleyball.'' she babbled, excitedly.

''I am.'' I said dryly.

The guy's eyes moved to me at once and I swear he brought warmth with it. A happy chill went through my toes, but it wasn't like the goosebumps I got whenever I stood close to Fang. Or the tingles I got when he flicked me. (yes, Maximum Ride, can actually get tingles when a guy flicks her! Hey, it was still known as physical contact!) Or the butterflies I got whenever he looked at me. Or how I'd almost fainted when he'd hugged me after I had played the drums. Fang was that amazing to make me feel that way. And I assure you, nobody, and I mean nobody had ever made me feel that way in my entire life. Ugh. Sometimes being a teenager sucks.

''I'm Dylan.'' Dylan's voice echoed to my thoughts and even if I was slightly disgruntled about him interrupting me twice in a day, I took hold of his waiting hand and shook it.

''Max.'' I said.

He showed off his Abercrombie model smile and I looked away, uncomfortably, in response. I hoped he'd get the message and stop checking me out.*What? He was!*

Nudge, always one to hate being excluded from a conversation, started to bawl out how nice the weather was and how we would have a great time playing volleyball. Don't get me wrong. It was a great day outside, yet now I felt like my world was painted in dull shades of grey. Volleyball would be fun, although no source of entertainment would unfold the knot growing in my stomach. My head felt heavy with all the raw anger and hurt. And I felt like crawling into a tight ball and never having to wake up. But, other than that, I was _fine_.

Soon, other kids had come on to the volleyball court. At 11:30, all campers taking the volleyball session had arrived. Except Fang. Where was he? Huh, probably wherever Brigid was. Despite my suspisions, I asked Nudge.

She looked at me. ''At 11:30, campers have a choice of what they can do. For Fang, he probably has swimming as his other choice. So that's why he's not here.''

I nodded to show I understood.

Nonetheless, Nudge was wrong about one thing. Fang didn't go swimming instead of coming for volleyball because he prefered swimming. He'd done it so he could stay away from me. Avoid me. 'Cool my nerves' as he would put it. So, even though, the knot in my stomach threatened to tighten, I remained calm. If he thought avoiding me was better, then fine.

After Dylan had made sure ever camper had arrived, he had divided everyone in teams. Thankfully, Nudge was on my team. And so was her friend.

''Hi, I'm Angel! Nice to meet you.'' chimed a sweet, honey-like voice behind me.

I turned and my heart melted. She had huge, gigantic blue eyes, that put Barbie to shame, considering they sparkled more than Christmas lights can. Her smile was well, like her name suggested, _angelic_. The golden-blonde hair she had was matted into a messy bun and her skin was smooth and pale. When she waved at me, I was compelled to wave back.

Nudge came over and put an arm around Angel's shoulder. She beamed at her.

''I see you met Angel.'' she mused aloud.

I grinned. ''Yep. Hi Angel. I'm Max.''

She cast me her angelic smile once more and I almost forgot the havoc I was going through. Almost.

''Okay, guys! Get into your called teams! Team captains are...,'' Dylan instructed from the benches. ''...let's see, Max and Cassidy!''

I whipped around to face Dylan, my eyes, bulging out. How could he make me team captain? I mean, I liked volleyball and was part of a team several times, but I'd never become captain even once. Plus, he barely even knew me! Or if I played well. Dylan seemed to feel my glaring eyes at him and slowly turned. One hand was closed around his whistle and he brought it to his lips before saying, ''Don't get mad, Max. I just wanna see how you are at being captain.''

I scowled and rolled my eyes, causing him to give off his teasing smile.

I had to admit. He was kind of cute. His hair gleamed brightly whenever the sun touched it. Every time he fixed me with his sea-like eyes, I couldn't help but feel light-headed. Although, Fang was still... *Just leave it, Max! You're supposed to be mad at him, you nut-job!*

''Let's roll!'' Dylan said, still locking his eyes with mine.

I forced myself to look away and inwardly, did a facepalm. No matter how much chaos and turmoil Fang would put me through, he was still my best friend, even though, I'd known him for about a week. Nobody, not even hot-stuff Dylan over here, could change that.

The next few hours were a distraction for me. Then again, distractions never last. I still felt raw with fury- as if Fang had hurt me just a few minutes ago. Nudge seemed to notice this and was uncharacterstically, quiet. It was a relief, which turned into a comfort in the midst of everything else.

* * *

><p>It was soon lunch and it was also the moment I loathed. Not that I wasn't hungry- I was starving! But, unfortunately, lunch had something to do with Fang. He would be there and I wouldn't know how to face him. Should I apologize for being a jealous snob? *GASP! I just called myself a jealous snob!* Or should I ignore him like the Angry Max that I am? It's funny how the second choice appeals to me more.<p>

Nudge and Angel were too busy chatting to notice my dilemma. And I didn't mind. Why drag them into this when I can face my inner turmoil on my own? We walked to the camp cafeteria building and straight away went to the place were the sweet, old ladies were serving food. _Bad mistake_.

I followed Nudge who was still not saying much and grabbed the red trays that held our lunch. When I turned, I my face connected with a hard, lean chest which wore a black T-shirt. Hmm, wonder who that is? On instinct, I immdediately, pulled back, but glued my eyes on his chest, hands, anywhere but his face. I heard Angel and Nudge trying to stiffle their laughs in the background. But, they call it background for a reason, you know. (For all you clueless folks out there, background has the word 'back' in it. So, you pretty much can't hear a thing, unless you press your ears.) All, I could focus on was breathing. It was horrifyingly, becoming shallower as I took my time to slowly, glare at his face.

As soon as I met Fang's deep, black eyes, I couldn't help but, mentally shrink between two tight walls.

They held so much regret and concren that I was too surprised for words. The dark hair he possessed was still wet from swimming and tiny droplets of water clung on to it. *If it's possible, he looked even more seductive than usual!* His lips were pursed in that cute way of his and his eyebrows were scrunched into a worried look. Fang never showed his emotions. And no, that didn't mean he was emo! He'd once told me that emotions always got the better of you. They clouded your thoughts and got in your way. (His words, not mine.) He hated how emotions could easily take over, while he'd rather much be in control. Right then, infront of everybody, I would have hugged him tightly and possibly, never let him go. I would hush to him and say everything was okay. But, did I do that? Wait for it... _NO_!

Instead, I made the boneheaded mistake of talking. ''Sorry.'' I mumbled, thankful that my voice didn't break.

Fang regarded me with those eyes again and turned his head. I could tell he was trying to figure out if I'd just apologized for bumping into him or getting jealous. You'd think Fang would know me enough to tell that I was sorry for both things, but I was just as good as shielding my face of any emotions as he was. *Okay, I'll confess. I'd learned it from him.*

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

''Can I talk to you alone?'' he said in a husky whisper.

I looked around and saw that nobody was actually paying attentiion to us. Only Nudge and Angel, who watched, curiously. Everyone else was minding their own business, eating and talking to friends. But, I didn't want to say no, so I walked out of the cafeteria, wordlessly.

There was a rock nearby and I claimed it. Then, I realized I hadn't waited for Fang. *GOD! Sometimes, I can be a real jerk!* As if responding to my thougths, Fang pushed open the cafeteria door and walked up to me. The sun glinted off his dark hair making him look like the Angel of Death. His black clothes made him look even more badass and I couldn't help but feel a blush creep onto my neck. Before I looked down in embarassment, I saw Fang flip his fringe expertly, to one side. My gut flip-flopped.

By the time he'd reached me, even though I had my head down stubbornly, I knew Fang had his arms crossed.

''Max,'' Fang said, calmly. ''Max, look at me.''

I scowled, a bit ticked off that he was telling me what to do. So, I stood up and looked him in the eye, a fierce expression on my face.

His face held an impassive look. He was holding off his emotions, like I had done a minute ago, but on him, it was much, much better. Fang stared at me for a few seconds, as if reading my face, then his eyes softened and I knew his voice would do the same. ''Max, what happened?''

''I-'' I began, but was cut off. I didn't know what happened. Not exactly anyway. I knew I was pissed off when I saw Brigid flaunting herself all over Fang. But, why? Sure he was one of the most hottest guys I had seen on the earth and I'd never liked anyone as much as I'd like him before. I'd assumed it was because I considered him as one of my best friends. But, why would I care if I saw another girl throwing themselves at Fang? It all confused me, but deep down a voice spoke. _Maybe he's a little more than just a friend... _

_Yeah, and that's why I enjoy slapping, punching and kicking him all the damn time! _I thought back, snidely. Then, I felt really stupid because I was talking to nobody in particular. Heat crawled back onto my cheeks and Fang, in front of me, raised his dark eyebrow.

''I don't know.'' I replied, quietly.

He sighed and took hold of my shoulders gently. ''Well, then. If you don't know, then you might want to cut me some slack.'' he said. ''After in you left- quite dramatically, may I add- I just..''

Fang trailed off and let go of my shoulders. He turned his back on me and walked a bit away.

We stood there for several seconds. But it never turned awkward. Silences weren't awkward with Fang. They were comfortable. I knew he was thinking whenever they came up. So, I held my tongue before I said anything that would confuse him more than he already was.

''I just want you to tell me when you're mad.'' he finished, steadily. ''I mean remember what happened with Lissa? You almost ripped her hair out.''

I couldn't stop the smirk that came on my face. And I knew Fang was still amused by the idea because I heard a smile in his voice.

''Brigid and I are just-'' he continued, but I couldn't take it anymore.

''You know what, Fang?''

He turned around, surprised at my change of tone.

''Why do you suggest that I'm jealous of these two?'' I asked, coldly.

Fang scowled and took a step towards me. I knew he was fighting for an answer and it soon came out. ''Because you are.'' he replied, growling.

I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes. My jaw was set like I knew that I was going to win this won. *Maybe I was, maybe not. Maybe if Fang had a little brains in that hot head of his..* This was how I usually looked when I was annoyed. Fang had seen it plenty of times before and you'd think he'd learn to avoid having me like this. But, no. The lunatic just had to go through and smirk, smugly.

''No! Has it ever occured to you that maybe, possibly, perhaps that I wasn't mad 'cuz Brigid and Lissa were throwing themselves at you like wild animals, while you just stood there, taking it all?'' I yelled.

Fang's eyes widened.

''And maybe, possibly, perhaps,'' I continued, practically spitting my words. ''That you happen to be my best friend and I just happen to care if your attention towards me is divided?''

Okay, that was were my moron-ness took it's final stand. I hated the way I sounded like a whiny baby and how Fang's eyes softened, apologetically in response. This was Maximum freaking Ride we were talking about. Rule #2 : Never admit how you actually feel. Bottling yourself up is the best way to sucess. Saying that comment about his attention being divided just admitted how I felt. How's that for a rulebreaker, eh?

''Max,'' he said. Okay, this dude had problems with saying my name as the start of every sentence. Well, most of the time, anyway.

When I didn't look at him, he took hold of my chin and made me look at him. _How many times has he done that in one day? _I thought, distractedly. I believe the answer is two. Yep, he has problems with this too.

''I'm your best friend?'' he asked, amused. That caught me off-guard. I was expecting a Fang who'd come up with the usual annoying comment. However, here he was doing otherwise.

''I ramble when I'm undescribably miffed off.'' I explained, annoyed. ''Don't let it get to your head.''

''Too late.''

''Whatever.''

He chuckled in that extremely seductive way of his and I scowled at my mental choice of words. _You're supposed to be mad, nimrod! _But, that was just it. I couldn't be mad at Fang. Not forever, at least. Then his expression became serious.

''If I was dividing my attention between you and Brigid, I'd rather be dead, Max.'' he smoothly whispered and my breath almost caught when I realized how close he was to me.

I wasn't sure if he'd rather be dead if he knew that he was sharing his attention towards me with Brigid. Or if he was sharing his attention of Brigid with me. *I know that's confusing. _I'm_ confusing! Get over it.* I figured it was the first one, probably 'cuz I really wanted to be over this whole Angry Max situation. So, just like that I wasn't angry anymore. Fang saw my face relax and swiftly gathered me into one of his rare cozy hugs.

It took everything I could to not sigh in utter pleasure. Although, I have to spill out that Fang's woodsy scent filled my nostrils and I quickly, inhaled as much as I could. My face was burried in his muscled chest and I had no intention of leaving that place. But, Fang, always one to ruin the moments *nitwit* let go off me, yet held my shoulders to stare at my face.

''So, we're good?'' he asked, cautiously.

These were the moments where I absolutely adored. _Time to mess with the Fangster. Hehehe..._

''Sure.'' I said, unimportantly and pretended to check my fingernails.

''I'm serious.''

''So am I.''

''_Max!_''

I shrugged, nonchalantly. This was too much fun.

Fang growled, exasperated. Then he simply, flicked me straight in the forehead.

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><p><strong>Lame ending, I know. Just ran out of ideas (: Please, if you have some FAX ideas for chappy 8, be my guest. <strong>

**REVIEWS!**

**(: You smiled at how many times Fang cupped Max's chin in one day. Uuuh, I think it was 2.**

**): Naah.**

**:D You laughed at how Dylan got rejected by Max. And how he was _trying _to woo her. *YOU JUST GOT REJECTED.***

**D: *puke* LOL, i will laugh if anyone sends me that. ^.^**

**:O I WANNA EAT DYLAN! *hehehe***

**O_O You think it's wierd that Max doesn't like it when Fang flicks her 'cuz if it were you, you'd faint if Fang flicked you.**

**Fang kisses/flicks to anyone who reviews! (:**


	8. Dinnertime

**Ayye, guys! Weell, judging from your reviews, you sounded pissed with Dylan but you liked the FAX-ish stuff (: In this chappy, it's more FAX-y than the other chapters, except for Ch.4 when Fang caught Max. (personally, that was MY favourite!) A few weeks have passed since Max and Fang made up and it's dinnertime. Max has met Gazzy and the Flock is all together now. Woohoo! LOL :D Now, for some people who reviewed! **

**Animalover: **Ahha, thaanks! I actually enjoy writing high emotions especially with Max and Fang. They're just so dang adorable. *tear* As for Fang being mad, when you mentioned it, I totally had an idea. But, then I thought I could do that in the later chapters. I can't wait to write him mad. ^.^

**not 13 yet :** LOL xD. I love awkward moments too. There's one in here, in honour of you. But it's not between Fang and Max... ;-D

**Scherri : **Fang : *kisses and flicks Scherri* There, happy?

Me : Ahha, you know you wanted to!

Fang : *rolls eyes*

Hehe. Saame! I love to write Max being mad. She gets so stubborn and Fang has to compromise. :D Oh, and dun worry. I delivered the message to Fang. He said he loves you too... just don't tell Max. -D

**Rawr : **I was thinking about doing that. Turns out, it's a reaaally good twist in plot and I absolutely love it! But I was thinking, if you wanted the close friend to be Sam? Or is that too much? Cuz, I don't wanna torture Fang, LOL. I'll play with the idea. Thaaanks so much for presenting it to me!

**Okay, on with the story!**

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><p>''You guys are such animals!''<p>

I looked at Nudge who was sitting across me. She had a look of disgust on her tanned face and her eyebrows were forming a deep scowl. I had no idea why, though. ''What?''

''You. Are. Such. An. Animal!'' she repeated, slowly, like I was a dog who needed to be trained. Huh. Now, that I think about it, that was one lousy comparison. ''Both of you!''

I still didn't know what she was talking about, so I glanced at Fang beside me, who had his french fry halfway to his mouth. He, too was a bit alarmed at Nudge's sudden outburst. Then, he just resumed his eating position and the french fry got lost in his mouth. When he felt my confused eyes on him, he turned to grin and shrug.

''I believe she's referring to the way you're eating.'' he whispered, teasingly in my ear.

My eyes widened with mock outrage. ''I believe she was referring to the way we were_ both_ eating.'' I shot back, and he just half-smiled, causing my heart do a little tap-dance. How does he _do_ that?

Despite my qualms of the Fangster being too seductive for his own good, I continued to eat messily with my hands. Okay, you sissies in the back, the ones going ''Eew!'' Seriously! It's much, much more comfortable to eat with your hands, rather than with a fork or a spoon. Ask a caveman. Or heck, just ask Fang! While Nudge, Angel, Iggy (occasionally, he would pick up something the old-fashioned way) and Gazzy (same goes for him) ate like proper Brits, Fang and I were the odd ones out.

We simply, stashed our forks, spoons and knives aside because they weren't gonna be any use, anyway. And even if we were eating french fries or chicken nuggets, which most people would just eat by hand, we would make a mess of the whole place. What can I say? I eat like a pig. Take that stereotypers! And all around the room, girls were mirroring mine and Fang's actions (Key word: _Fang) _just because they thought he would ''take interest'' (Nudge's words-not mine) in one of them. Yet, after a couple minutes, they quit and started to eat like the ninnies they were born to be.

I threw a side-ways glance to Fang, who was perfectly unaffected by the dreamy sighs and _oohs_ and _aahs_ that were emitted by most of the camp girls. Every time he laughed, grinned, or even popped a french fry in his mouth, they just couldn't keep their traps shut. However,_ I_ was incredibly pissed.

I mean, I'd seen this happen to Fang before- I'd been here almost a week, after all. But, everytime I saw it, for some strange, strange reason, I had the instinct to go into Angry Max mode again. As you can see, being an almost sixteen-year old girl can be a pain in the ryhmes-with-grass sometimes. I know what you're thinking. 'But, when you're sixteen, you're almost a legal adult! You're soooo close to getting your own car!' And so on, so forth! But, what happened next is a good reason to be scared of fifteen-year old girl hormones.

As I was going through my inner turmoil and listing a hundred reasons why I didn't want to become fifteen, I was also (and had no idea, I swear!) that I was staring- no _gazing _would be a better word-at Fang, seated beside me. I watched him eat and how his luscious lips took in the french fry and how he gulped down some Coke, making his cute Adam's apple move up and down- the same way my stomach did whenever he looked at me... *Woah! Where the _heck_ did that come from?* He'd thrown a new black T-shirt and black jeans before we'd gone to the cafeteria together. His wild, tousled dark hair was windblown from the race we'd had and I had to admit, he looked pretty hot. (surprise, surprise!)

He suddenly turned to face me properly and his lips started moving. He was saying something to me, but I couldn't care less. Instead, I found myself studying his mouth, the way they opened and closely so smoothly- you'd be lucky to even catch a word. He kept saying the same word, I started to wonder what was wrong with him.

But, heck no! There wasn't anything wrong with _him. _There was something wrong with, wait for it- _ME_! I couldn't hear a thing! Not even the busy fumbling of the camp cafeteria. This was my ultimate WTF situation.

All of a sudden, I heard Fang calling someone's name. _My_ name. He sounded concerned and amused at the same time.

''Max? Max, you okay?''

I gulped and blinked a couple of times. ''Uh... yeah.'' I replied, a bit dazed. I swear my eyes threatened to close and never open again- which, frankly was okay by me. My cheeks and forehead started to feel hot, but not from a blush. Suddenly, I didn't feel like eating anymore because I'd lost my appetite.

''Max?'' Fang's voice started to grow more into worry.

I looked at him. ''Yeah?''

''You're a bit green. You sure you're okay?''

''Yeah.''

He looked exasperated. ''And suddenly, 'yeah' is her favourite word.'' he mumbled and Iggy snorted.

Despite my feverish-ness, I managed to smile. ''Yeah.'' I muttered, just to annoy him.

Fang rolled his eyes, good-naturedly yet he still looked worried. Was I that bad? Surely, no. It was probably because I'd drank waay too much Gingerale. Everyone's eyes were on me, but when I'd said I was fine, they went to back to chatting. Out of the blue, Fang reached out and brushed my cheek, lightly. ''Green is totally your colour,'' he murmured, so only I could hear. ''But, if you ask me, I prefer red.''

_Well, you got what you wanted Fang!_ I was instantly turning red and to my horror, to prove his point, Fang smirked. _Why that little..._ I tried to ignore the way my cheek was bursting into warm flames where his fingers had touched. But they weren't bad flames, just the good ones. The ones that send happy chills through your whole body and take away the fact that you might have a fever. He then leaned back into his chair with a ghost smile. _I hope you're_ _happy..._ After that, I tried to act casual. But try acting casual when a guy like Fang does what he just _did_ and when you realize you might have a fever!

Thankfully, Nudge's too-ready mouth saved me from future embarassments. I watched her lips trying to catch every word coming out. It was one of my new challenges. What? It was pretty hard! Her tone changed every ten seconds, as did her topic. First it was about how dinner was fabulous. Then, about how staaaarry the night looked and how preeeetty everthing was. How did she connect to everything in under a minute? Her friend, Angel certainly had no trouble. Every now and then, she would leave in a small detail of what Nudge missed. Which was exceedingly rare since tonight, the Nudge Channel was turned on to the limit.

''Uugh! We get it Nudge!'' Iggy complained and slapped a hand over Nudge's mouth.

It was pretty hilarious when Nudge brought down her teeth and an earsplitting shriek came out from Iggy mouth. We all burst out laughing, while Fang showed off his funny, lopsided smile.

We were all squished in one of the camp's dinner tables. Me, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Angel and her older brother, Gazzy. Apparently, earlier that night, my knowledge-starved brain made the mistake of asking why Angel's brother's name was Gazzy or the Gasman. He demonstrated his (I refuse to call it skill) uuh,_ ability _to well, like his name suggested, pass gas. I shuddered at the memory.

**A/N : I wanted to write a flashback here- when Max met Gasman, but then I wanted to keep the chapter, strictly FAX. Sorry ^ ^**

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><p>The night passed pretty smoothly although, I was still feeling groggy. I probably should've told Fang or Alex that I might have a fever, but being the brilliant girl that I totally am I shut up. Me, Fang, Iggy and some other older campers were helping to clean up.<p>

''Hey, Max!''

I groaned and turned, only to face Dylan. He was a few feet away and was frantically waving. I didn't want to be rude *scoffs* so I waved back, but with no enthusiasm. Dylan, always the perky chipmunk, didn't notice and walked over to me.

''Dinner was good, huh?'' he asked, smiling. But, he'd said it as if he'd taken me out to dinner. _Not_ a pretty sight.

I nodded, wordlessly and out of the corner of my eye, saw Fang. I must've looked pretty miserable because he grinned, slightly and strode next to me.

''What's up?'' Fang said, but I could tell he detested Dylan too. Gee, I wonder why?

''Nothin'. Max here was in volleyball today.'' Dylan replied lamely.

Fang nodded and I laughed. ''Not that I was any good!''

''You kidding me? You were amazing!''

''Uum, thanks.'' I muttered but it came out more like a question and Dylan looked surprised. If he wasn't getting the clue already, you would know that he wasn't exactly the bright type.

We stood there, awkwardly waiting for a good conversation to come up and I felt like blurting out ''Cricket, cricket.'' After he saw no hope in continuing this _interesting_ conversation, Dylan left and muttered a 'bye' that was clearly for me. The second he was out of earshot, Fang looked at me, his onyx eyes glittering, wierdly.

''Well aren't you the charmer?'' he snapped, a little too harsh for my liking.

I looked at him, confused, but he just rolled his eyes.

''Never mind.''

He started to turn on his heel and I reached out for his shoulder, a bit hurt.

''Fa-'' I started to say, but without warning, my knees gave out and my eyes rolled back inside my heard. I heard a hard thump! Then, stupidly realized it was me. I'd fainted! God, this is sooo embarassing. Maximum Ride never faints! God, kill me now.

''Max!'' Fang's voice hovered over me and he sounded terrified. ''She passed out! Quick, I'll just take her back to her cabin. She looked a bit green during dinner anyway.''

The next thing I knew, a strong pair of arms gathered around me and I was pulled to a hard, lean chest. The familar woodsy scent that surrounded Fang was soo alluring and it drew me right in to sleep. Without thinking, I buried my head under Fang's chin, calmed by his breathing. Wow, even his breathing was hot!

''Max? You okay? Can you hear me?'' I could make out Fang's voice, but it was really distant. He was whispering in my ear, softly, but with worry and I almost sighed in pleasure. *Woah, Max. Dizziness taking hold of you?*

I moaned slightly, in response. He sighed in relief and the last thing I heard was his soft chuckling.

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><p><strong>AAWW! Now isn't that sweet? <strong>

**LOOL, so next chapter is, no doubt, gonna be waay more FAX, I promise. And just to prove that I'm not lying, I'll give you guys a hint on what it's about. Let's just say that instead of Fang taking Max to her cabin, he takes her somewhere else... And when she wakes up from her coma or whatever she had, she hears a soft guitar playing and for you dumbots out there, yes, _Fang_ is playing the guitar. MUAHAHA! That's all Imma give you guys (:**

**But, I'm wondering what song he's gonna sing her and I'm drawing an utter blank. And that's where you guys come in. If you have a great FAX-y song in mind, please post it in your review. I'd be more than glad to listen to it and see whether it's fit for Fang. THANKS!**

**REVIEWS!**

**:) You smiled at the FAX-y parts, like I did.**

**): You frowned when I threw Dylan in there.**

**:D You laughed at how Max was all shocked when Fang _just_ touched her cheek... And said that he loved it when she blushed... **

**D: Booo! You suuck! *C'mon, guys! Make me laugh!***

**^.^ You giggled when Nudge bit Igster's hand.**

**3FAX3 You have a good song in mind for the next chapter, when Fang's gonna sing to Max...**

**-MRforever44**


	9. Lakeshores and Drawings

**Hallo, my little reviewers! Soooo sorry, for not updating fast enough. I finished this chapter on Monday, yet I still had the urge to update it on the weekend, when I was sure you guys wouldn't be busy. But, then I felt totally guilty so yeah, I'm updating today. SORRY, FOR THE WAIT! Ohwell, you guys seemed happy with the previous chapter. This one's pretty FAXY too (: But, no kiss, yet. I promise, next chapter will have a kiss. :D This chappy also has a song- one which I'm now completely obsessed with- which was recommended by **_maxridelover56 _**and **_faxnessovertaxes**. **_**It was really appreciated. For those of you who had also given me songs, thaaaaaank you soo much. I'll most likely use your songs in the chapters to come. **

**MaxIsMe: **Ahha, really? She's girly? LOL, I always try to write Max as a tomboy, but I guess I fail, epically. Ohwell. I'll try to do a better job next time. (:

**zammielicious98: **Yeah, dun worry, hun. We ALL have a deep desire to get rid of that guy. Imma not even say his name, LOL. And, ofcourse, Fang would say something like that! I mean, anything beats looking green! I love writing Max all lovey-dovey with Fang, anyway! :D

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><p>It was wierd. I could hear everything around me. The breezy wind, campers shuffling, Fang breathing. But, I couldn't will myself or get the energy to move or wake up. It was like I was in a trance. It was also mindblowingly frustrated. In the end, I just gave up and let myself be handled by Fang. You'd have to be reeaally stupid to not realize I hadn't ever fainted before. What? I was a tough girl.<p>

At the moment, all I knew was that he did _not_ take me to my cabin. No, that would be too hard. (note the sarcasm.)

He'd carried me to my cabin at first and I know this because I heard Lissa's fake squeals, asking if I was okay. To my utter relief, Fang just snorted in disbelief and headed back down the stairs. I was still carried in his arms and I started to wonder what the campers who saw us, thought. Sometimes, I caught snatches of their conversation.

''- that Fang?''

''Max-''

''-he's carrying her-''

''-dating?''

And as you can see, the conversations immediately turned into a _yuck_ fest. I wondered if my cheeks were reacting to how embarassed I was. Feeling Fang's cool breath on my face, I knew he was looking down on me. Beside my cheek, I felt his chest rumble with a restrained chuckle. ''Even when you're unconscious, you know how to pull that off.'' he whispered, huskily.

I swear, if I wasn't half-dead or whatever it was that I was going through, I'd gut him right on the spot. But, I was, so I couldn't do anything. Of course, this added to the huge list of _why you shouldn't faint_. It can lead to distrastous events such as this.

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><p><strong>FANG'S POV<strong>

Putting the sketchpad away in my backpack, I looked at Max beside me. Her face had a serene look on it and her eyes were fluttered close. Strands of brown hair were thrown across her face so I swept them behind her ear, gently. When she woke up, boy, would I tease her!

She was still unconscious, but I had to say, I liked her much, _much_ more when she was in this state. She was so calm and didn't look like she was about to beat the crap out of someone. Not that I didn't like her when she was, half the time, slapping, whacking, punching- and what not- me. It was fun for a change to be friends with a girl who wasn't staring at you like she was about to eat you up. Max just liked me for, well, _me. _It's not everyday you find a girl who isn't throwing herself at you like you're a Greek god. Nonetheless, sometimes, I had to think different.

Max was like no other girl, no doubt about that. I mean, she was a _real_ tomboy- not the kind that acts tough because she thinks it's cool. And those were one of the things I absolutely loved about Max. But sometimes, like tonight when I'd blurted out that I'd liked it when she blushed *Of course, it's true. What? Red is Max's colour!* she turned into such a different person. Almost, well, like a _girl._ I already knew I had that affect on girls, being the amazingly badass guy that I am, but I'd never think Max would fall for it. I'd never think she'd fall for _me_. Naturally, I wasn't completely sure- you never can be with Max.

Then, I remembered when Max was jealous of that slut, Lissa and my friend, Brigid. She'd downright, flipped out and almost ended up going down in a fist fight with Lissa. We'd also had one of our biggest fights because of her being jealous of Brigid. Yet, no matter how cheesed I was at her, there was also a part of me that was happy with her being jealous. I didn't know why and I didn't want to know.

This was all so frustrating. Why couldn't life just make sense? Why did everything have to be so damn confusing?

Sighing, I picked up my guitar and started playing no song in particular. Music always cleared my mind, no matter how messed up it felt. I picked at the strings carefully, but the sound came out clear and full. Out of nowhere, I started to hum a tune and then, sang it.

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><p><strong>MAX'S POV<strong>

I was still groggy from my fever or faintiness or whatever had caused me to go loony. Yet, I knew it was going to be minutes before I would open my eyes and wake up. A faint sound of a guitar playing was heard in the background and from what I could hear, it was a soft, velvety kind of music. I strained my ears to hear more and what I heard, instantly, melted my heart. *And that doesn't happen very often!*

An angel's voice. That's what it sounded like. The guitar went perfectly in tune with the voice and I felt my brain slowly, turn to mush. It had a hard edge to it, but it was also at the same time, silky and smooth. Obviously, it was a guy singing this. A guy who I would no doubt, stalk to the end of my life. A guy who's voice I was in love with already.

_When I was younger,_

_I saw, my daddy cry,_

_And curse at the wind;_

_He broke his own heart ,_

_And I wathed._

_As he tried to reassemble it;_

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><p><em>And my momma swore that,<em>

_She would never let herself forget;_

_And that was the day that I promised,_

_I'd never sing of love,_

_If it do not exist._

* * *

><p><em>But darlin',<em>

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception._

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><p>I breath out an astonished sigh and Fang looked at me and smiled. WAIT. How do I know what Fang is doing? Oh God! I'm not fainted anymore! *does mental happy dance* I can see!<p>

I took that time to sweep my eyes around the area and my eyes widened. This was by far, not my cabin! We were both at the lake. I could hear the faint sound of crickets and frogs croaking. The full moon ahead of us was shining amazingly, bright that I had to look away to avoid blindness. We were both seated at the edge of the water. Fang was sitting on a short tree stump with his black guitar in his arms and his hair falling over his left eye, making me dizzy all over again. I was placed on the ground, against another tree stump, only a foot away from him.

Right away, I felt my cheeks heat up and I was so thankful for the partial darkness, surrounding us.

Fang had paused a bit and smirked, but kept strumming the guitar, expertly. His dark eyes that blended in the with night sky behind him, seeped right through me and I had to look away in embarassment. Knowing him, I already knew he had one eye-brow raised and that stupid, sexy smile pasted on his face. I was grateful when he started to sing again.

Oh God... Fang was the one with the angel voice... And I'd just fully admitted that I'd fallen in love with his voice... Uuuh... Never mind! I take back what I said!

I looked up at Fang innocently. As if sensing my thoughts, his smile became wider and I swear, it was even brighter than the moon above us. Although, he didn't seem to care if I was immensely tortured because, he mercilessly opened his mouth to proclaim his angel's voice.

_Maybe I know, somewhere,_

_Deep in my soul,_

_That love never lasts._

_And we've got to find other ways,_

_To make it alone,_

_Or keep a straight face;_

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><p><em>And I've always lived like this,<em>

_Keeping a comfortable, distance;_

_And up until now,_

_I had sworn to myself, that I'm content;_

_With loneliness._

_Because none of it was ever worth the risk._

* * *

><p><em>You are the only exception,<em>

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception,_

_You are the only exception._

* * *

><p>He trailed off slowly, still gazing at me. I found that I couldn't break my eyes away from him. Everything seemed to just fade away and it was just us in our time-safe safety bubble. And like always, Max the Butthead had to ruin it all.<p>

I cleared my throat and mumbled. ''Nice voice you got there.''

''Thanks.''

''No problem.'' I said, looking at the lake.

''And tomorrow, it's your turn.''

I looked back at him and laughed. He was talking about me singing at the music session. ''Naah, I don't think Igster would like that.''

To my pleasure, he gave off one of his rare Fang laughs- not the usual chuckles.

Then, he did something that surprised me even more. Reaching back, behind the tree stump, he pulled out his backpack. After fumbling in it for a while, he pulled out a smooth-looking paper. He handed it to me. ''Earlier you wanted to see what I had in my pack.'' he explained.

I took it, wordlessly and slowly looked at it, my breath already caught.

It was a drawing of me. Fang. Drew. Me. But, at the same time, it looked nothing like me. The girl's heart-shaped face looked so peaceful and calm. Last time I checked in the mirror, I always had dirt and grime painted on my cheeks and I always looked either, angry or frustrated. Sometimes, both. The eyes drawn underneath the beautiful, wavy mass of hair were closed as if the girl was dreaming. She had sharp, defined cheekbones and her cheeks were shaded as if showing that she was blushing. Her lips were full and curved into a tiny smile. There was no way on the planet that this girl was me. The world was already messed up as it was.

When I spoke, to my surprise, my voice sounded extremely hoarse. ''I love it.''

''You just like it 'cuz it's about you.'' Fang teased.

I shook my head. Normally, I would kicked him in the shins and said something snarky. But, I was still astounded by the drawing. ''No, I really do like it, Fang.''

Looking up to him, his eyes were unusually soft and he had a shy smile on his face. For those of you, newbies out there, you know who you are, little tidbid of info of Fang here: Fang never acts shy. Or anything under confident. But, now he seemed to open up and not be the emotionless brick wall dude. I smiled at him and he grinned back.

''So why'd you never show me this before?'' I asked, softly. My eyes scanned for the date when he drew this. From the limitted knowledge I had on people who drew or painted, I knew that they scrawled the date and their name on a corner. However, the lower right corner just said ''Fang'' in a beautiful, loopy cursive.

He shrugged. ''I drew this one while you were unconscious.''

''Why?'' I gave the paper back.

''You looked all peaceful and _not_ ready to rip the paper out of my hands.'' he motioned to the paper in his hands.

I grinned at this and leaned back against the tree stump, sighing contentedly.

Suddenly, Fang tensed beside me and scowled in frustration.

I looked at him, quizically but he just gave me a worried look. ''What is it?'' I questioned but he just put a finger to his lips, calmly.

''Crap,'' he muttered under his breath, but I'd heard him. ''Erasers.''

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><p><strong>OOH CRAP! ERASERS! Dun dun duuh! I sure hope Fang and Max will be okay. :P <strong>

**Weell, I have to be honest with you guys. I hated writing this chapter. There I said it. It's not cuz I don't like FAX. OH HECK, I DO! But, I felt when I reread it, I didn't put much effort into it. It's really sad :( But, I swear next chapter is gonna be awesome. It does include Fang showing off his badass, hot, sexy street-fighting skills. I've already started writing about it! **

**REVIEWS!**

**(: You smiled at how Fang drew Max. (AAAWWW)**

**): Kinda bad ending. **

**:D You giggled at how frustrated Max was when she was unconscious.**

**D: Naaaaah!**

**:/ It was okaaayy... not bad, not awesome...**

**O.O You liked my choice of song. (Give credit to my faithful reviewers, **faxnessovertaxes **and **maxridelover56**!)**

**3FAX3 Duuuh, you want FAX in the next chapter.**

**THANKS, GUYS!**


	10. I Didn't Mean It, I Swear!

**OHGOD! I'm soo sorry, guys for the long wait. (Here's an EXTRA long chapter!) I would've updated sooner, but my friend's mother died. ): It was reeaally sad, but hey, she was a great person, so yeah. Miss you, Lycenetta (': OKAY! Jeezum, you guys were eating my head about the whole Eraser thingy for the last chapter. Honestly, at first, I had no idea what I was gonna do with the change of plot, but I think this chapter explains EVERYTHING! Ooh, and, uh I think this is the chapter you've all been waiting for ... (; Oh and please, don't get cheesed about the whole Fang situation. He's okay in the end, dun worry your little Fangirl/boy heads off. Hope that doesn't give much away. (:**

**wings:** Yeah, it's weird that Fang would sing a girl's song. But, there's a guy version too. And once I heard it, I was like ''WOAH, this is the alleluia song for Fang''. Search it up on Youtube, cuz it really is awesome. ^.^

**zammielicious98:** Mmm, you'll have to wait and see... (: Buut, thank you soo much for the one of the sweetest reviews I've ever heard. Seriously, it made me tear up... in a Max-tomboy-ish kinda way. Not the Valley Girl kind.

**MaxIsMe: **Do they have wings? Uhhm, I don't know if you meant the Erasers or Max and Fang, so Imma answer for both of them. Nobody has wings in the story. All HUNDRED percent human. Ahha, I know right? Fang doesn't really come across as the shy type but whatever. He has to be shy for Max. :D

**XxDDxX: **Nawwh. Erasers don't have wings. I mean in the book, I remember they did. But there were grafted on in the second book, SOF. And, thank you so muuch! ^.^

**lilmissmaggie: **Aww, thank you! Ahha, sorry for the wait. I know I said Sunday, but then the whole funeral thing messed my schedule up a bit. Sorry!

**animalover: **Noope, Fang doesn't have those gorgeous, sexy wings of his. LOL.

**IS IT MY FAULT I LIKE CHATTING WITH YOU GUYS? Lol, sooo, here's your chapter!**

* * *

><p>Now, I'm usually great with surprises. Somehow, I just <em>know<em> when someone's behind me or when there's an upcoming birthday party. It was a gift and that's why Jeb and Mom were always informing me when my birthday party was. When I _am_ caught off-guard, I try not to show it- meaning I shut down my entire face and look as expressionless as possible. Fang was pretty dang good at it too. So you can imagine my face when a group of huge, burly looking guys in black leaped out of the tall grass surrounding the lake. Instantly, Fang and I jumped to our feet.

''Get outta here.'' Fang whispered through clenched teeth.

I shook my head. ''Nawh. I think I'll stay.''

I could tell Fang was ready to strangle me, but I prayed that he'd take his anger on the gang in front of us.

They were all in dark clothing, almost like emo guys. And I know what you're thinking. _But Fang wears black too!_ Well. Yes. Yes, he does. But on _him_, the black tops and jeans don't make him look like a psychopath serial-killer. If it was even possible, it made him look more badass. These guys looked like wanabee-vampires, I swear. I was pretty sure some of them even had eye-liner on. Yeah, way to be tough and macho, guys.

The leader or in this case, the guy standing in front of the group grinned evilly. He put out the hand which wasn't curled around a wicked looking pocket-knife. *Yeah, you heard me.* ''At ease, fellas. We're not gonna bite.''

He laughed, throatily and so did the others. The moon was casting a faint shadow over everything including his face. *Not that I was complaining! Who knew what was under all that garbage?* But, I could see his windblown blondish-brown hair settle over his misshapen face. Uugh. _Not_ a pretty sight.

I was surprised he couldn't see the tension vibes rolling off from Fang's body. Taking a peek at Fang's face, but not fully leaving sight of that sharp blade, I saw that his eyes were hard and cold. His mouth was pulled into a tight grim line and his fists were clenched. He met my eyes and they shone with worry, but then went back to burning fury. I was guessing he'd got this way because of a past experience. Looking back at the 'leader' of the vampire-wanabees, he muttered, ''What do you want, Ari?''

See now, knowing Fang for quite some time now, I learned to read between the lines. Or in this case, really short lines. _Get out of here before I kick your flippin' ass. _

The guy who's name was Ari faced Fang. ''Oh, Fang.'' he mused. *Wait, how'd he know Fang's name?* ''So much to learn...''

He took his time, to curl the pocket knife between his palms but, then slowly walked up to me. I stood my ground and waited for him to just get close enough to throw a fist in his nose. Turns out, that never happened. His slow walk to me, sped up and before I knew it, there was a pointy edge under my chin. It pressed up, but didn't break skin.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fang's blurry figure flash and knock the hand holding the blade right from under me. He stepped protectively in front of me and was breathing hard from anger. ''Don't. You. Dare. Touch her.''

Can we say, sexist pig? I could take care of myself, thank you very much! Heck, I could raise the world's mayhem if I wanted to.

Fang reached his left hand behind him and somehow, found my hand. I placed mine in his and squeezed it to show I was okay.

Ari was butt-flat on the ground, looking dazed. Even the WV (you can guess what that stands for, right?) looked taken aback. I couldn't blame them. Fang could move fast when he wanted to. It was why some of the younger campers, including Angel, sometimes called him, Ninja Fang. *And guess who suggested it. Yup, that's right. Yours truly!*

The WV advanced forward, but Ari stood back on his feet. He had that annoying smug expression on his face again and it just reminded me of the nose I didn't get to smash. ''Now, now, Fang. You hold it right there.'' he said. ''We're just gonna take this sweetie right back to our quarters, have a little fun and bring her right back in the morning. Heck, we're doin' a favour by not killing you right now, right here.''

How's that for persuasive? (note the sarcasm.) But, I knew Fang wouldn't ever do that and leave me to these pack of pigs. He would rather much beat the crap out of them. That's one of the many things we both, have in common.

When Fang made no attempt to move, that's when Ari's stepped out to catch Fang's stomach in a fist. Not even flinching, Fang pushed me back roughly, almost sending me into the lake, and launched a round-house kick at the Ari. He fell back with a grunt and Fang ducked under a punch.

I moved forward to help him trash these dirtbags, when a hand clamped around my neck and an arm slithered around my waist. One of the guys had me to their chest whispering nasty things in my ear. Fang, who was caught in an unfair one on ten fight didn't see. But, I didn't need his help. My parents didn't recommend I get put in the self-defense session for no reason. So using my fair knowledge of Tae Kwon Do, I brought my left foot up connected it with the slimeball's groin. After hearing what sounded like a whine and a few colourful words, I proceeded towards Fang, pounding on anyone who came in my way.

I have to admit, my brain shorted out when I saw him. Many sloppy kicks and punches were aimed at him, but Fang dodged them with ease. I was pretty sure I saw him smirk in glee a couple of times. *Whoa, sexy much?* Sometimes, feet grazed Fang's sides but he just sucked in a breath and kept on lashing out.

''Leave him!'' Ari yelled. ''He's mine!'' The others moved back, reluctantly and Fang straightened up, sucking in his breath. He looked murderous. Nobody looks scarier than Fang when he's mad. I shivered and swallowed hard. I hoped someone from camp would come out. No matter how good Fang was, I could see this ending badly. Maybe I could just hit Ari in the spot and-

Out of nowhere, two hands came down on my wrists and held them tightly against each other, behind my back. Even if I struggled, I couldn't wriggle out of the hold. My feet were useless since I was already forced down on my knees. So, other than swearing, spitting and cussing as much as I could, all I could do was watch in horror as Fang and Ari walked around in slow circles. Fang had seen me and his eyes widened a bit, but other than that, he kept his face impassive. Ari wouldn't let him come close enough to help me and I knew he hated that.

''Please, please,'' I muttered, pathetically at nobody in particular.

Fang dodged to the side as the guy threw a punch at him. He jumped up and landed an elbow straight down onto the lunatic's collar bone. I swore it would have broken it if Fang hadn't been grabbed by Ari and thrown slightly off. Ari threw him down and Fang rolled a few feet and then scrambled to his feet only to be kicked in the head. His head snapped around and he spat out blood before rolling away from another kick.

''Fang!'' I screamed as Ari landed a kick in Fang's chest. Fang slammed into the nearby tree. He waited, leaning against the tree until Ari tried to punch him and then he ducked, giving the guy a broken knuckle as his fist made contact with the tree.

Fang danced around behind him and landed a kick on his side. Ari grabbed Fang by the arm and punched him three times in the face. Blood ran down from Fang's nose and Frankenstein threw him onto the ground. Fang raised himself onto all fours and the leader motioned his cronies, not including the nutcase who was holding me to come.

''You bastard!'' I shouted. ''Coward!''

Fang was getting ganged up on and soon, he became their human punching bag. Two guys had grabbed his arms open and Ari and the others aimed punches and kicks at Fang's chest.

''No, no, no!'' I screamed. ''Faaang!''

The mental case holding me tightened his grip on my wrists, when he felt me struggle against. I felt like puking my guts out. Instead, I looked at Fang and tears started running down my face, desperately. So, I closed my eyes and just waited for it to be over.

''See ya' later, girly.'' crooned the guy who was previously handcuffing me and I spat at him. He leaped away and followed Ari and his gang out through the long grass. My blood boiled when I heard them howling in laughter, but all thoughts disappeared from my mind when I saw Fang.

Blood crawled out of his nose and he had a split eyebrow and lip. He was lying on his side, groaning a bit. The black T-shirt he wore was drenchd in blood and I guessed that the dirtbag had pulled the knife through Fang's chest. His eyes were rolled back into his head, but after a few seconds, they whipped open and instantly saw me. ''Max.'' he said, softly barely moving his lips.

''Shutup, you idiot!'' I cried, tears still welling up in my eyes. ''Lemme call Alex.''

Whipping out my cell-phone I dialed in the camp number and Alex's groggy voice spoke through the phone. He had been asleep. Woops.

''Yes?''

''Alex!''

''Max?''

''You have to come down to the lake! Fang- this gang- he's hurt! Please! Just come! Please!'' I plead, my voice breaking several times, because of the tears.

Alex sounded full awake now because he replied. ''Oh, God. Don't worry, Max. I'll be there in a minute and so will the ambulance. Stay put. You said you kids were near the lake right?''

''Yeah,'' I managed.

In seconds, Alex arrived, along with a police car, ambulance and Brigid. *Uugh.* Iggy also, managed to come and suddenly, I didn't feel so alone anymore. Fang didn't make an attempt to speak or move. And I was afraid that he'd... that he'd... oh God, help me now. I stared down at Fang's face in my lap and held back the stupid tears.

''Fang!'' Iggy was beside Fang and I in an instant. I rolled Fang over gently, making sure his neck wasn't broken and then lifted his head and rested it in my lap. "Oh god! Man, wake up!"

Iggy carefully, took off Fang's bloody T-shirt and I tried not to ogle at his defined abs. There was a huge gash across his chest, but all I could stare at was his _abs. _

''Oh crud," a paramedic who knelt down next to us, murmured. He ran his fingers over Fang's ribs. "Broken here and here." He touched Fang's sternum and his jaw and nose. "Jaw and sternum are okay. Nose is broken though." The guy moved it back into place and Fang coughed and woke up, probably from the pain of setting his nose.

"Fang!" I gasped, my eyes roaming over his face.

"Oh god," he coughed. He turned his head, rose slightly from my legs and spat blood on the ground.

"Fang, how bad is it?" I asked, wiping tears from my face and gently, placing him back into my lap.

Brigid came over and glared at me like this was all my fault. And for once, I actually agreed with her. Maybe if I hadn't fainted and all, we wouldn't be in this mess! I tried to ignore her flaming eyes and looked back at Fang.

"Pre'y bad," Fang mumbled, lying his head back on my legs. He looked up at me blearily. His eyes had that healthy glow again and relief flooded through my body. "You're cryin'."

"Because you scared me," I whispered, hoarsely. "Why the hell did you do that, you idiot?"

"They were goin' to hur' you," Fang groaned. I gave a choked half-laugh and heard Brigid do a gagging noise in the back. Again, I ignored her- for Fang's sake.

"Always chivalrous," I whispered.

"That's right," Fang muttered, his eyes drifting shut.

Alex came forward. ''No Fang! Don't go to sleep.'' he barked. "He might have a concussion, keep him awake." Iggy reached out and he slapped Fang's face and he blinked and groaned.

''Thanks.'' he mumbled and then, rolled his eyes.

''Shh. Be okay, Fang.'' I whispered, my voice breaking several times. ''Please. Be okay. Don't give up on me now.'' Then without realizing what I was doing, I leant down and kissed him on the mouth. Just like that.

''Ow,'' Fang said, simply and I pulled back, heat flooding my face.

I heard the paramedics and Alex cough, awkwardly and turn away. Brigid sounded like she was getting choked. Iggy blinked and stared at me and I looked at Fang. He was staring at me in shock. You know what? I believe in God, no problem. But, for some weird reason, He hates me almost as much a I hated myself for doing what I just did.

Swallowing, Fang tried to sit up, but I wouldn't let him. Slowly, I pushed back his shouders, carefully avoiding toaching anywhere near his chest.

"Just… um, stay down, 'kay?" I said.

"O… kay," Fang muttered. "Oh man, my head is killing me." He eyed me carefully and then looked at Iggy.

"I wish I'd been out here to have your back," Iggy sighed.

Fang chuckled, huskily and you know what? Even when he was half-dead, he pulled it off in a away that made my heart all fluttery. *GOD, MAXIMUM! WILL YOU GET YOURSELF TOGETHER?*

The ambulance guys came over to lift Fang from my lap and place him on a waiting gurney, but Fang just shook his head.

''It's fine. I'm okay.'' was all he said and I shot a glare at him.

''What?''

''You're hurt, Fang.''

''No, I'm not.''

''Don't make me beat you up more than you already are.'' I warned, icily.

He just grinned and looked at the uncertain paramedics. ''Seriously. It's okay. Jus' a few scratches.''

I rolled my eyes. Fang was just trying to be tough and macho. Those bastards must've messed with his already messed-up head when they beat him up. ''Fang!'' I said, annoyed.

''Max!'' he mimicked me and I growled in frustration.

Taking a few breaths before I did something stupid, I added, ''You sure you don't wanna go to the hospital? Those might be infected.'' I pointed at the scratches on his arms and then the huge cut on his chest.

''I'll be fine. Check 'em out later.'' he said, not looking at me.

I sighed. Would it kill him to speak in a full sentence?

Alex told the still unsure paramedics that everything was okay and he'd call them if future disturbances came from the gang, Erasers. The police guys left with full knowledge of what had happened, thanks to Alex and I. Thankfully, they didn't question Fang, since he already was in bad shape. The last thing he needed was a group of hyped-up police officers tormenting him about _every single_ event. (Don't ask about Brigid. When I saw her go back to her cabin, she looked seriously freakish-like. And that's coming from me.) They left and so did Alex. But not before he explained.

''They're the local gang around these places, those Erasers. I've no idea how they got past camp security, but now I'll kick the security up a notch.''

I nodded, eyeing Iggy slowly pick Fang up. He had a red T-shirt on Fang, and I was a little bummed about. Fang had one arm around Ig's shoulders for balance, but I was still scared he might fall.

''Try to stay away from the lake from now on,'' Alex continued. ''I've no idea why you kids were out here in the first place. Lights out was called half an hour ago. You're lucky a counselor was with you to get away with it.'' He chuckled, good-naturedly.

''Yeah, okay.'' I said, not really listening, but glad that Alex soon left.

I ran up to Iggy and Fang, who was limping slightly. He had a determined look on his face, but it soon turned smug when he saw me.

I ignored it. ''Hey.''

''Sup.'' Iggy said, even though I meant it towards Fang. He just nodded, but held my gaze.

''Um, you holding up okay?''

Fang nodded again.

''Can we, uh, talk?'' I asked, quietly, bracing myself for the worst.

''Alone? Are you sure?'' Fang teased and Iggy laughed.

I stopped walking along with them and held my ground. My hands were already on my hips to show I wasn't gonna take crap from him now. Just because he had gotten the life beaten out of him, didn't mean I would just stand there, like a little puppy.

Fang and Iggy noticed me pause, so Fang sighed and told Iggy, ''S'okay, Ig.''

''You sure? I think you should rest.''

''I'll be fine.'' Fang said, waving a lazy hand.

Iggy looked at Fang. There must've been a weird look on his face, because Iggy got a knowing smile. He murmured something into Fang's ear and his smile became a smirk. All I caught was my name and 'annoy'. I scowled.

Fang nodded, smirking and Iggy let go of Fang's arm so Fang cold stand on his own. He walked over to me, limping still, while Iggy whistled and walked back to his cabin.

By the time he'd walked over to me, my scowl deepened and so did his smirk. ''What?'' I snapped, harshly.

''You tell me.''

I took a few angry, shaky breaths and closed my eyes. When I opened them, Fang was leaning against a tree. His hands were in his jeans pockets and his dark hair was fallen over his right eye. The moon was still sending huge beams of light and it fell on his hair making it seem-for some reason- even darker. His midnight eyes were staring into my brown ones, intensely.

We both knew what I was going to say, that was for sure. Well, I _hoped_ he knew and didn't take that _accidental_ kiss to much to his dumbass head.

''I didn't mean it.'' I started.

''Oh, okay. That clears things up.'' he said, without missing a beat.

''I wasn't finished.''

''Please, continue then.'' he motioned with his hands.

I narrowed my eyes. ''I was just scared for you, like any other normal person. So, yeah. I kinda lost it.''

Fang smiled, lazily and I, immediately dreaded that was the wrong thing to say. _God, here it comes._

_''_Yeah, you got lost in my eyes, that is.'' he taunted.

I stamped my foot down in frustration and sent him my death glare. It did no affect on him- typical. He just stood there, waiting for my answer and then, figuring out how to turn it against me. As you can see, talking with Fang is like talking to a clown who never takes things seriously. Huh. Now, that was one lousy comparison. Fang. A clown. Fang _The_ Clown. *FOCUS, MAX!*

''It. Didn't. Mean. Anything.'' I said, practically shaking with AFS. (Annoying Fang Syndrome- A disease told to be taken seriously. No exceptions.) ''Trust me, you're the last guy I'd want to kiss.''

**FANG'S POV**

''It. Didn't. Mean. Anything.'' Max said, no doubt freaking over that one comment I'd just made. What? I was an impulsive guy. Not my fault she was took things so damn seriously. ''Trust me, you're the last guy I'd want to kiss.'' She practically spat the last word.

Okay, I'll admit. That hurt a bit. No, no. It _stung- alot. _I'd no time to register _why_ it stung, because Max was already storming off towards her cabin, her hair flying behind her.

That chocolate-like, silky hair...

*Woah. Where'd that come from...?*

* * *

><p><strong>LAME ENDING, I KNOW! But, hey! I finally threw in that damn kiss you guys wanted. (; Gotta count for something, right? Personally, I think this was my best chapter. I mean it showed off Fang's ninja fighting skills, Max's badassery and again, Fang being all tough and macho. ^.^ Iunno WHY the heck I threw Brigid in there. I guess I just wanted her to acknowledge that Fang was Max's- not Her's. So, in yo face, ugly!<strong>

**REVIEWS! **

**(: Best chappy I've written. *big smiles, big smiles***

**): Uhh, pass.**

**(; Iggy's impulsive slap at Fang, to keep him awake was hilarious! **

**:D You were like, ''That's right, Fang. You rock Max's damn world!'' the whole time.**

**D: You felt kinda sad that Fang got ganged up on. But then, you were all smiles when Max FUDGING kissed him! **

**^.^ Sweet chapter. **

**TT_TT You'll be waiting for FAX in the next chapter. (;**

**THANKS GUYS! **


	11. I'm Dead, Aren't I?

**Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update. You may kill me now. But, times are rough. Everything's all mayhem what with my friend and her mom passing away. I tried to write whenever I could- Writer's Honour. This chapter's kinda short (SO SORRY! Next chapter will be long, I promise!) and introduces a few new characters. First part, well, I'm not sure if you guys will like it much. But, ohgod the second part practically made me salivate, just writing it. Hope you guys love it! **

**Lisa loves Fang: **LOL XD Sure you can have Fang for X-mas. But, I'll have you know, those don't come cheap. (;

**MaxIsMe: **OH GODDAMN! You freaking serious? Gaah, I can't believe it! Lol, what's he like? When I saw your review I was like ''WHY AM I CURSED WITH SUCH BAD LUCK AND THIS GIRL GETS IT ALL?'' And then, my brother told me to screw it. Ahha, pleeeaaaseee PM me about him. Like, even throw in a picture if you have one! G'Bless you and may you guys end up together! (:

**Here's your chapter!**

''You really kissed him?''

I turned my back to the computer, to look at Lissa and Felicity, one of the twins of I got along with pretty slimly. I thought they were both still aleep. It was only like 7 in the morning. Yet, here there were sneaking up on me while I replied my mom's raging e-mails.

''Thought you guys were alseep.'' I grumbled, faintly and spun back around to type.

''You kissed Fang last night?'' Felicity's voice piped up (again- what does she want from me?) It sounded more like a statement than a question. I sighed and faced them both once more.

Lissa had no amount of emotions on her face and I had to admit, I was really happy to see her not yapping off that flabby mouth of hers. She pressed it into a small line. Her eyes were trained on me, yet they had a wierd look- like she was possessed or something. I would've told her to get off my bed bed before her poisonous Lissa-like perfumes scarred my sheets, if it weren't for Felicity who was also boucing up and down like an excited chipmunk.

The sunlight from the window was casting streaks in Felicity's hair making her red-brown locks seem gold-like. Her pretty face was lit with the gleaming smile. I stared into her green-grey eyes while considering what to say. ''Well, don't just stand there. Tell me all about it!''

She crossed her arms over her chest and it was then I'd noticed she was wearing my favourite turquiouse PJs.

''And why should I say anything when you're in my clothes?'' I smirked and raised one of my eyebrows.

She laughed good-naturedly and replied. '''Cuz Al's gone all protective of her stuff again and most of my clothes are sent in for laundry. Plus, I really like this.'' She fingered the smooth cotton.

I thought I heard Alicia, Felicity's twin groan and mutter a few swear words while still alseep, but Felicity just rolled her eyes and flung a pillow at her small figure. I grinned cheakily.

''You still haven't explained.'' Felicity accused.

'''Cuz there's nothing _to_ explain.''; ''Well, atleast tell us how soft his lips were.''

Ugh. My whole cabin was filled with Fangirls. *a term Fang and I had made after he- no, _I_ broke him up with Lissa, 'cuz the dumbass didn't have the guts to do it himself.* Don't get me wrong- I loved Felicity and Monique, who was sound alseep in the bunk next to mine. Her brown head was peeping out of her comforter and I was relieved she wasn't awake at the moment. She would've tormented me about 'the kiss' to no end.

They were a wierd bunch- my cabinmates. Yet, I pretty much snapped inwardly when I predicted that they'd torture me about details of what happened last night.

Fed up, I turned off my computer- sorry mom, no e-mails today- and stepped out the front door of cabin . Everything was so serene and calm outside, compared to the hectic hell back in there. I figured I had some time to myself before I'd go check up on Fang and camp's sessions started. So I went down to the building which held martial arts and straight to the ginormous grey punching bag hung from the side of the room.

At the moment, I didn't care if I was in my yellow smiley face pajamas. I just wanted to let out what bottled up emotions I'd had yesterday. If it weren't for going to bed right after, I'm sure I would've collapsed of exhaustion. So right now having a punching bag right in front of me was kind reassuring.

I started out slow not wanting to sprain muscles on my first lashes. Soft and slow punches. After what seemed about five minutes, I threw in more energy and strength through kicks and more swipes. The bag gratefully stood to take in everything I was giving it and I started to wonder what it would be like to be like this to an actual person. Come to think of it, that would be more satisfying, yet for now, this would do.

My breath was heavy since I kept bouncing on the balls of my feet and I was sure that I'd went on to do this for about half an hour. But I kept on going, mercilessly until I heard a soft chortling behind me.

I spun around with narrowed eyes. It was Kevin, the self-defense instructor, leaning against the side wall. I relaxed my face but had one eye brow raised. Was he here the whole time? Probably was, but I just didn't notice, him being all ninja and stuff. I smiled up at him. ''Whacha' doin', up so early?''

''I can ask you the same thing.'' He came walking up to me.

''Annoying cabinmates are a pain.''

His hazel eyes twinkled with humour and he grinned. Now, I'm not usually boy-crazy. *WHAT? I'M NOT!* But, I had to admit- Kevin was kinda cute with his looks that drew most girls in. Dark straight hair, olive skin and those intelligent gray eyes. Today, his hair was tousled from sleep and he was wearing black baggies and a white T-shirt depicting a picture of the almighty Chuck Norris who was Kevin's idol.

''And you didn't have time to change?'' he asked, pointing at my PJs.

''Nope.'' I replied, popping the 'p'.

''You wanna fight some?''

I stopped and stared at him. ''Me and you?'' I blinked a bit when I saw him nod. Kevin was a straight black belt in Karate, Tae Kwon Do and many other martial arts I had trouble pronoucing. Fighting him was the last thing I'd want to do.

''Uhuh. Just for fun,'' he smirked playfully. ''Besides, Max. Heard you put up a pretty wicked fight last night.''

I ignored the fact that he was wrong. I didn't put up any fight last night. I wish I did, but unfortunately those bastards had me down.''You know about that?''

''Everyone knows about that, Max. Everyone _also_ knows about,'' he paused to put his hands on his cheeks and did a fake gasp. ''The Kiss!''

''Shut up.'' I rolled my eyes and landed a small kick in his side. He professionally caught my foot in mid-air and then pushed it off, sending me stumbling back a it.

''You and Fang, huh?'' Kevin taunted, irritably.

I growled, plafully but this time, my sidekick landed square in his chest. Kevin brushed it off and smirked as if he knew all along I couldn't give up an oppurtunity on a good fight- he was right, of course. He got into fighting stance and instantly, started to fight back. Many times, did his punches and jabs land on me, but right after he would ask if I was okay. I would always nod hastily and mirror his attacks.

Kevin and my fighting styles were different. His was more technical and well, karate-like. Mine was kick-ass street-fighting. Yet, somehow we managed to ward off the other. I realized it was pretty comfortable to spar with Kevin. It was way better than taking it out on an inanimate punching bag. But, things took a huge turn when suddenly, Kevin leaned down and kicked my legs right from under me. Fazed, I stretched my arms out wide to keep balance, yet it was no use. I plummeted towards the ground and was sure I was going to connect with the floor when two arms came around my waist and pulled me back.

My eyes widened when I stupidly realized it was Kevin. Duuh! He was the only guy in the room! Unless, Fang managed to do his little trick of appearing out of thin air. Speaking of Fang, now would be an absolutely bad time if he walked in because there was about three centimetres of space between mine and Kevin's face. His arms were still around me, having no intention of letting go. I stared at his face, his _eyes _to be exact, and all of a sudden couldn't breathe. Why was his face becoming bigger? God, I'm stupid! _Why is he leaning towards me, his eyes slowly closing? WHY AM I NOT DOING ANYTHING? _

Overwhelmed by my thoughts, I let out a small cough when he lips where approximately five _freagin'_ millimeres from mine. His grey eyes opened, alarmed and his arms loosened around my waist, letting me scarmble from them. He looked completely embarassed and I was a little sorry about that. Although, a tiny part of me screamed: **WHAT THE HECK? HE WAS ABOUT TO FLIPPING KISS YOU AND YOU'RE FEELING SORRY? **I told that part to shut it.

After a whole lot of coughing and shuffling around, we got our bags ready- well Kevin got his bags ready. Not me since I came here in just my PJs. It was getting kinda late outside and soon, breakfast would start. I'd have to manage to check on Fang to see how he was coping, before then.

Kevin soon regained his composure or atleast, hid his turmoil inside. He went back to joking around with me and I couldn't help but joke back and pretend nothing had happened.

''Jeez, Max. Didn't know you were so turdy,'' he teased when I told him I was probably going to be late for breakfast. I rolled my eyes at him and laughed.

*******PAGE BREAK!*******

I ran back to my cabin, quickly dressed, brushed my teeth and tied back my hair, all while the girls chattered about how I'd over-reacted and blahblahblah. Not really hearing them, I sped out to Fang's cabin.

When I knocked, no answer came so I stepped inside and slowly, closed the door. The curtains were drawn and it was pretty much, pitch black inside. I figured this was Fang's doing, so when I bumped over a sharp dresser, I cursed loudly. I heard Fang's grunt in response and him shuffling out of his sheets.

''Fang?'' I whispered, not wanting to wake anyone up. ''You there? Damn! Where are the lights?''

To my utter annoyance, he started chuckling and I started to try to grab hold of him. Obviously, he was feeling much better because he began to play stupid hide 'n' with me. It wasn't really a fair game of hide 'n' seek since in every step I took my knees banged into stuff and Fang knew his cabin and where everything was. I started to wonder why nobody was waking up at the racket I was making. They probably had gotten dressed and headed for breakfast while Fang slept in. Abruptly, two warm, hands came over my eyes and brought me to a hard, lean chest.

''Guess who?'' came a husky whisper and a pair of lips lightly, brushed my earlobe. It took all my willpower not to melt in a smush puddle.

Despite the jello in my knees, I elbowed Fang. Of course, it didn't do me any justice. ''Fang, quit messing around! You're gonna miss breakfast!'' I said, faking annoyance.

Sadly, the two hands left my eyes and I turned around to see Fang's figure reach yank open a curtain. *Wow, it was that easy.* When the sunlight seeped through the window and illuminated the room, I took a look at Fang. My jaw hit the floor. Somebody go pick it up. Fang. Was. Freaking. Shirt. Less. Gaaaaahh... I just died.

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><p><strong>Oooh, cliffy! Sorry guys, I know it's been a long time since I updated and you deserve a longer chapter, but I'm just so damn sorry. I'm already working on the next chapter and I'll update it soon, I swear to Fang. Just bear with me! <strong>

**REVIEWS!**

**X.X Where the heck have you been, young lady?**

**(: You smiled when Max resisted the Kevin's lil kiss.**

**): Not your best. **

**:D You laughed at Max's reaction of Fang's sexyness.**

**D: Naaah...**

**^^ You wish you had the chance to check Fang's abs out.**

**O.O Imma find you if you don't update...**

**-MRforever44**


	12. I'm So Screwed

**Heeyo, my little reviewers! How was your day? Well mine rocked, cuz I was sick! And yeah, you're probably going like ''Whaaat? How's that a good thing, you pyschopath?'' but, that meant that I could stay home and finish this chapter! Yay, for being sick, lol. Sooo, you guys seemed pretty satisfied with the previous chapter, even if it was terrifyingly short. Sorry 'bout that again. But hey, I got a nice little chapter for you guys here. Uuum, beginning's okay, I guess. I absolutely enjoyed writing the middle. Ending's kinda sad. And not at all FAX. Sorry for the change of plots. A reviewer suggested this plot to me a few chapters ago and I really like the idea so Imma play along with it. Hope you like it! **

**MaxIsMe: **Ohgod, he sounds amazing! But, the name's a bit off, cuz I have a six year old cousin whose name's Aiden. I can't picture what the guy looks like now without thinking about my cousin! LOL, he likes you? OMG, you're so freaging lucky! (;

**EPICMOoOSE1112L: **LOL, you're too kind. Thanks for making the comparison. But, I think everyone has a different style of writing. Just think about it this way: writers are like zebras. We may feel the same, but we're actually extremely different. Wierd way of seeing it, I know. But there you have it! Thanks anyway, for saying I have good writing! :-D

**Okiie! I'll stop talking now, sheesh. On with the story!**

* * *

><p>You know that feeling when you're dead? Like when you have absolutely no feeling in your body? And you feel like you're in a box- all squished up and not able to breathe? And the only thing that ties to the world is the hot, shirtless guy in front of you? Yeah, well if you said yes, then you're probably a ghost or a delusional freak. If you said no, then go die 'cause buddy, it's worth. Take it from me, Dead Max.<p>

Right now, I didn't know if saliva was bubbling in my mouth, or if my eyes were trying to get bigger, or if my brain had shrunk into a meaningless dot. All I knew was that Fang was clearly doing this on purpose, for turning on him last night. But in my defense, he was being an utter jerk for saying I willingly kissed him. I probably should've told him that instead of practically pulling the rabid animal act.

Not even acknowledging that my eyes were glued to his bare chest, he stretched his arms and yawned a bit. Dope. The sunlight was streaming through the window, setting his already hot body on fire. *Oh, God. Somebody kill me now! Oh, wait... I'm already dead...* Strangling my urge to continue to stare, I looked down, finding a brand new interest in my sneakers.

''G'morning,'' Fang muttered, sleepily.

I looked up and forced myself to look at his face. ''Good morning, Sleepy Head.''

But, he wasn't looking at me. His back was facing me and I walked up to where he stood, trying not to sneak a glance at his very _(very_) fine torso. While my eyes were busy doing circus tricks, Fang's dark ones were scanning the landscape that his window offered. The sun was making his onyx eyes glitter brightly and his smooth, tanned skin glow. But that's not what got my attention.

It was the look his face held. I wished I could've had the talent of art like Fang, to sketch his face right then and there. He looked so happy, so at home, it almost made my eyes teary. I'd never seen Fang like this.

''What is it?'' I asked, softly not wanting to break that expression from his face.

He peered at me, like I was crazy. Maybe I was. You never know. ''Look, Max,'' Fang said, his tone gentle. He turned my face with his palm, away from his view and to the one outside.

My eyes widened at the scene. Sunlight was streaking camp at every place. The lake was shimmering brilliantly, and casting the sun's reflections in every direction. Grey sparrows were flying in small brown clouds. Trees' leaves were ruffling each other in the light summer breeze. Now that I think about it, camp was pretty beautiful. No wonder Fang spent all his summers here. It seemed pretty unobservant of me to not notice this on my way here.

And the only word to express how mesmerized I was: ''Wow.''

''Yeah. Wow.'' Fang smirked and I got the feeling he was laughing at me, yet I was lost on what. This morning, there was buckets of things that would've labeled me as 'laughable'. Number one on the list was the PJs incident.

''What?'' I snapped.

He shrugged and instantly realized how close we were. My temper disappeared when I saw there was only like, ten freaking centimetres between us. And it wasn't really helping that Fang's chest was level with my eyes, making is impossible not to stare. He looked at me, taking note of my 'Get out of my face' look and glanced down at his naked upper-body.

I was completely confused to see his eyes widen a bit and him whip around, almost knocking me backwards in the process. Fang grabbed a nearby grey shirt and faced me again. I didn't have any clue why, but I was happy to see his neck in a light shade of pink and his eyes in a pool of embarassment.

He tried to cover it up, but I, being the incredibly observant person that I totally am, saw it. ''Um, you wanna go catch some breakfast?'', he stuttered and I almost doubled over in laughter. Fang noticed I was barely holding in giggles and flicked me straight in the forehead, making me cross-eyed.

I sighed. ''You're never gonna get over that are you?''

''Nope.''

''Whatever. Let's go to the cafeteria. We're really late and I had a harsh morning.''

Fang raised an eyebrow at me. ''I'll explain later.''

Of course, I wasn't really going to tell him. He'd most likely, rip Kevin's head off if I did. And I liked Kevin with his head _on._

* * *

><p><em>''<em>Where've you guys been?'' Felicity walked over to Fang and I.

We'd just entered the cafeteria, only to be bombarded with questions. Gee, I was sure loving this morning. I sighed and stared at Fang, silently willing him to answer. I didn't have the energy. Modern people call it laziness, but whatever.

''At my cabin.'' Fang replied, calmly. ''With Max.''

I did a mental face-palm. Of course what Fang said was true. I was at his cabin. Although, with all the pervertedness in Fel's head, she would draw her own wacky conclusion. Just thinking about it... uugh.

Felicity's eyes widened in amusement and she stared right through me so much I thought I'd turned into Fang's six packs. ''Really?'' she exclaimed. ''And what'd you'd guys _do_ at your cabin?''

She acted like she knew what she was thinking was right. But it wasn't. I was about to answer her question, although I figured I'd let Fang take this one too. Afterall the only truth, was that I had drooled over his chest, and I wasn't going to say that.

Fang glanced at me from the corner of his eye and smirked to know she could read my mind and he answered honestly, ''She checked if I was okay. Then we left.''

That was my Fang. The man of many words. I almost burst out laughing at the expression Fel had at the lack of explaination. Her eyes narrowed at me, yet not in a cold way. More like the 'Imma find out, you know..' Next she tilted her chin up in a superior motion and turned on her heel. All this snobbiness was probably just to impress Fang.

And that's what got me mainly cheezed about these Fangirls. They thought that Fang was the kind that was interested in snobs. I can't blame them 'cuz the nut was 'supposedly' dating Lissa for a while, yet they can't honestly believe that crap._ I_ didn't believe it at least. Fang deserved better. _Waaaaay _better.

Fang chuckled softly, beside me and it brought me back from Sulk Land. ''Can you believe her?'' he whispered.

I didn't know exactly what he meant, but I still laughed.

***** PAGE BREAK! *** **

Why do things always take the wrong turn when I'm around? First Kevin, then Fang, then Felicity and now-

''Food fight!''

Right after me and Fang had sat down at one of the benches with Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel Gazzy had well, one of his moments. And it smelled like, well, it's not polite to say. Let's just say that one fart from him = mayhem at our table and a little girl screaming that the lunch ladies were on strike.

She then, followed up on throwing pieces of pancakes around, muttering that she was on strike too. God definitely hates me if he ever had me babysit a pyscho like that kid. (Uuuh, no offense.) After the kid's pancake, _almost_ all the other kids and teens whipped around their food, screaming food fight, like every seven seconds.

Notice how I threw in the _almost _there. I meant for to be italicize or italied or- you get the idea.

About a quarter of camp ceased to throw food around like mad people. That's right, I'm talking about our table and a few other older kids. We were calm and mature people. No way would we-

_Splat!_

I frowned. Fang stiffled laughter. Our whole table stiffled laughter, including the sweet, innocent Angel. Cautiously, my fingers crept up my face, forehead and finally, my hair. My frown became deeper. I felt a cold, sticky substance attached to every strand of hair. It was slimy. I hate slimy. Reminds me of snakes. But, I knew there wasn't a snake on my head, I wasn't idiotic.

Thankfully, Nudge passed me a mirror she always carried around. *...WTF...* I took it, my hand curling around the edges, my knuckles turning white and leveled it to were my hair was. Oh, maaan.

There, upon mi beautiful brown-gold locks was a yellowy, gooey blob of Lemon Meringue. Well, whoever threw it was probably a blob of shit. Speaking of blob of shit, my eye caught a flash of hair and suddenly, Brigid's snooty face came in view. She seemed to be holding back laughs and probably enjoying the scene.

Ooooh, to hell with calm and mature! That bitch is going to pay! Fang followed my line of view and he squinted as if, he wasn't actually sure that the bitch was an actual bitch. But, I was sure. The only thing left to do was throw my chocolate chip pancakes at her.

So I did.

And it felt good.

Really good.

It had hit her square in the face and since the pancake had been recently made, the chocolate chips were still a bit soggy. They draped her face, making it look like her mascara was running really bad. Maybe it was. I hoped my being impulsve reduced her to pathetic tears. Sadly it didn't. Instead she took on shock and rage. Her mouth was in an 'O', kinda like the snoots back in highschool and her eyes were saucers. Well, at least I managed to show up that look. Score for Max!

I realized I actually said that out loud and people were most likely, staring at me like I was a pyshopath. Not Fang, though. To my delight, he had his eyebrows raised and his lips in a lopsided smirk. He looked down at his breakfast, chococlate chip waffles. ''Well, suddenly I'm not hungry anymore.''

I grinned and he returned it all while raising his arm, and flicking his wrist. The waffle flew straight toward Brigid engulfing her face in yet, another breakfast. This time, I was pretty sure tears had came out. Her little Fangy Poo betrayed her! Oh, screw it.

Before I knew it, our whole table was aiming our breakfasts at Brigid, while she just stood there, trying to grab random people's breakfast and getting us back. In no success, might I add.

After everything on our table was gone, I stood up, triumphantly and walked over to the fuming Brigid. Half her designer clothes were pasted with all sorts of breakfasts.

''Don't you dare mess with me,'' I snarled. ''It'll only end up backfiring.''

''Is that a threat?''

''Sure. Why not?''

All of a sudden, Brigid's eyes widened like a cornered animal, which didn't make sense. I had already got her cornered. She winced a bit, as if I was about to slap her or something.

Then, it hit me. It wasn't me she was scared of. It was a person behind me. And there's only one person who can sneak up on me like that...

I sighed and braced myself.

_Splot!_

I closed my eyes as the red, gooey stuff crawled onto my forehead and into my eyes._ Stupid_. I was _stupid_ to turn my back. The Brigid inicident was probably a distraction. I should've known better than to not keep an eye out in the middle of a food fight.

Brigid scrambled away from me, but I wasn't paying her any attention. Slowly, I turned around and faced Fang with an infuriating smirk on his face. Was he _trying_ to get me to blow my top? Well, I'm not going to give him the satisfaction.

''Well?'' he asked, still with that lopsided smirk. I closed my eyes, counted to ten and controlled my breathing. My response was most likely to surprise us both. ''Well played, Fang. Well played.''

He studied me for a moment, his dark eyes scrutinizing my face. It made me feel extremely self-conscious, considering I was an utter mess. But, I knew he was trying to figure out if I was having an inner turmoil moment. Then, he gave me a ghost smile. ''I said it last night, I'll say it again. Red is definately your colour.''

Fang reached out his index finger, scooped a bunch of what I was guessing to be cherry pie and plopped the bit in his mouth. All while I stared, letting what he just said, sink in. Boy, was I glad that that cherry pie was covering my blush.

**FANG'S POV**

Max stood up, as if she'd just won a huge fight. Which I guess, she did. I didn't think she noticed, but a huge smirk was on her face. It pretty much crushed my usual smirks to dust. I was pretty impressed when Brigid stood her ground and didn't run away screaming.

When Max started to talk to Brigid- actually, it was more like when she started to _threaten_ Brigid- Iggy reached over the table, to give me a huge tray of cherry pie. I looked up at him, confused while he pointed at Max and patted his head. My eyes widened at his genuis and he did an impersonation of an evil mastermind dude, rubbing his hands together and mothing 'Muahahaha'.

Nudge on the other hand, saw our plans and mouthed 'You nuts?' while trying to grab the pie away from my hands. Angel began to help her. Let me tell ya, there's nothing worse than having a bunch of horror-struck girls on you, when you're holding a pie. You might end up dumping the pie on them or yourself. Lucky for me, I got away from them pretty fast.

''Sure. Why not?'' Max was saying to Brigid, by the time I'd sneaked up on her. And might I say, she sounded so, so scary. But at the same time, extremely cute. Wierd combination.

I shook my head. Where'd that come from? Oh well, Fang. Focus.

Brigid's eyes widened when she saw me. And I have to say, I felt a twinge of satisfaction that I'd caused it. She'd already proved how much of a bitch she was. I had every right to hate her guts. Once her eyes were huge saucers, I glared at her; she might've gave me away. Thankfully, she scrambled away.

I moved quickly, and stopped when I was right behind Max's head. Her hair smelt like strawberries and that delicate scent she always carried around, filled my nose. When she froze and sighed, I knew she had me figured out. But, it was too late.

_Splot!_

God, am I proud of myself or _what_?

Max slowly turned, and for a second, I was actually pretty scared. But then again, this is Max. Max who's covered in cherry pie. _Max._

I smirked and I could tell she was pissed. Mission accomplished. ''Well?'' I asked. What can I say? I need good feedback on my 'Irritate Max' schemes. Deal with it.

She closed her eyes and controlled her harsh breathing. Then replied, ''Well played, Fang. Well played.''

_Huh?_

I looked at her. Obviously, she'd rather swear like she'd never swore to me before. Yet, she'd gone along with the 'I'm Calm and Collected' act. Which was fine. I have a few other tricks up my sleeve. But, the thing which I did next was not- I repeat _NOT _part of what I was planning. In fact, I'm not sure who it surprised more.

Without thinking, I smiled a bit and said, ''I said it last night, I'll say it again. Red is definitely your colour.'' My index finger reached out to get a bit of the cherry pie on Max's smooth forehead and then, I popped it in my mouth. *OHGOD, I've never tasted anything more sweeeet! Ahem, please excuse girlish shreik.*

Can we say impulsive?

* * *

><p><strong>MAX'S POV<strong>

''Oh, man. This stuff's never gonna come out.''

I sighed and threw a playful glare at Fang, who was lounging on my bed. He had his arms behind his head and was giving me side-glances. I could tell he was thinking. Real hard.

Felicity, Nudge and Angel were cleaning my hair from the two pies. They were having a pretty tough time, considering the pies were already a bit dried. I recognized it as payback, since they'd ignored all my threats as to why they _will not_ touch a strand. Yet, they just brushed aside all those vicious warnings and pounced on me.

''Just dig a little deeper,'' Nudge said, sticking her tongue out in concentration. All of a sudden, I yelped as her fingers attacked my scalp. Fang lifted his head to stare at me for about two seconds, before he continued 'thinking'.

Right now, I was in the bathroom on a chair, with my head in the basin. Fang was easily in view and whenever I squealed with pain when the girls tore out my roots, he'd look at me, with a hint of concern in his eyes. Although, he'd soon look back up at the ceiling, resuming his thinking pose.

Usually I could read him pretty well, unlike other people. You just had to look him dead in the eyes and figure out all those hidden emotions, but now even I was lost. He'd been extremely quiet ever since the food fight, but thankfully offered to accompany me while the girls sorted me out.

''You okay?'' I asked, hesitantly. I had to figure out what was going through his head or I might die. Sadly, he just turned to his side to give me a plain look. That was all I would get. Fang never-

''Sorry about the pies,'' he replied, softly. ''Didn't mean for them to be stuck in your hair.''

''But you only threw one pie at me,'' I defended, but then paused. ''You only threw _one_ pie right?''

''Sure.''

The girls giggled a bit and I scowled at them. ''Fang, tell me what's bothering you,'' I said gently, looking back.

He had a wistful expression on his face. His lips were pursed in that cute way of his and his eyebrows were scrunched, in doubt. I was very taken aback. Fang never doubted me. Even when everyone else did. He'd always believed in me.

I looked at him, trying to read as much as I could. He smiled gently at me and faced his beloved ceiling again. God, he was thick. I almost growled in exasperation.

I'm so screwed.

**FANG'S POV**

I should've told her. Right then, I should've told her. She was the only person who could sort everything out. Max was special that way, I guess.

Confusion was a dangerous emotion. It was an open dooor to plenty of other strangling emotions, I don't think that even Max could control.

The moment I'd met Max, thousands of emotions flooded me. It was like she was a river or something. She'd caused everything. But, I couldn't be resentful towards her for that. In fact, I was quite thankful for it. As annoying, hard-core, grudge-holding, and 'laugh-at-your-face-when-you-cry' sarcastic she is, she's pretty much whatever a guy could ask for.

As I came to realize this, I stood up and walked over to Max who was muttering some extremely colourful words. But, then out of the blue, there was a knock on the cabin door and in came a guy with light blonde curly hair and bright blue eyes. His eyes were instantly, trained on Max. Worst of all, Max actually looked terrifyingly happy to see this dude.

''Sam!'' she cried, struggled out of the girls' grasp and practically, jumped the guy, pushing me back against her bed.

I'm so screwed.

* * *

><p><strong>...Ohgod, what have I done to Fang? Kay, I gotta admit I feel kinda bad now. I mean I know that I don't actually know Fang, but I feel like I just murdered him... But, fear not! I will fix this whole ka-nish and you'll figure out the reason Max jumped Sam. The REAL reason. Muahahaha! <strong>

**REVIEWS!**

**(: You beamed at Iggy's genuis when he handed Fang the pie. **

**): You felt kinda bad for Max when she got hit with pie.**

**:D FOOD FIGHTS RULE! **

**D: You've sadly, been in a food fight before... things didn't go well.**

**D: You're boiling mad at Sam for ruining a FAX moment.**

**:/ All these new characters are giving you a headache. **

**Jus remember: I like flames. So give me your best shot. (:**

**-MRforever44**


	13. Douches and Pervs

**BAAM! Hear that? That's the sound of me being smacked by my beloved reviewers who wait oh, so patiently but now are getting sick if me NOT UPDATING. LOL, jeez guys, no need to be so mean :( ANYWHO, so bloody sorry for not updating fast enough. I now know Writer's Block is not just an excuse because I've had it for awhile. There are so many ways I can take this story but, I wasn't quite sure which idea was the best. Now I do... obviously I updated! WOOP WOOP for me. Reviews have been fantastic, as always. I'm not sure how y'all are gonna react to this chapter. It wasn't by best, I admit. But I had a bloody good time writing it- Hope you like it!**

**God, I realized I've never done a disclaimer. Gah, Imma see how it feels..**

**DISCLAIMER : I don't own this story... but I DO own Fang. He's with me here, chuckling his hot little ass off. Oh, Fang, do we ever stop loving you?**

''What are you doing here?'' I practically exploded in excitement. My face stretched really, really wide. It hurt. *CURSE YOU PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME SMILE- ohgosh, now I sound like Fang...* ''You said you were going away for the summer!''

Sam's blue eyes bored into mine and I remembered a time when they used to dazzle me. That was a long time ago, but I couldn't help but be a bit... oh, I don't know... awed. I mean, come on, they were like my own personal beach. He grinned and took hold of a strand of my brown blonde hair and started to twist it between his fingers. I almost forgot he was under me and my fingers which were digging into his shoulder probably hurt. My knees were on either side of his hips and my face was directly above his.

I inwardly cussed when I felt my face heat up and the girls giggled behind me, at my reaction. Sam's grin widened and he raised an eyebrow.

''I see you've missed me.''

''No freaking duurh!'' I laughed and got of him, trying to shake of the feeling that I had just straddled him.

''I missed you too,'' he stood up and gathered me into a warm hug. Those hugs which only Sam can give and maybe Fang... Oh God, Fang! Damn, sometimes I can be slow! *mental slap*

I searched for Fang and found him on my bed, glaring. Glaring like he'd never glared before. I had to admit, I was kinda frozen. The Fangster could be dang scary when he wanted. I wondered why he chose now to narrow his eyes at Sam and stand up, about an inch taller than him.

But wait... I saw it. The quick glance he gave before rising. It nearly caused me a heart attack. There in his onyx orbs he called eyes, was a small look that yelled, ''Why?''. I frowned at the rejection and repulsion he gave me in that one small look. But, then he assumed the position of making Sam a puddle of goo.

''You are?'' Fang asked, icily. He glowered at Sam who coldn't look more innocent.

''Hi, I'm Sam,'' Sam thrust out his hand, but Fang just shot daggers at it until he stuck it back at his side. ''Max?''

I looked at Sam, analyzing what could be so wrong about him that Fang, who liked everyone- well, almost everyone- deterred. He seemed blameless to me. Apparently Fang hated this whole 'I'm the cheerful, perky new guy' kanish and gunned down Sam with everything he had. Sam stared at me like 'Help me out here, would ya?'

I swallowed and put on my best ''This guy's awesome!'' face. Obviously, it didn't work because Fang scowled even more when I began to talk.

''Okay, um. Sam, Fang. Fang, Sam,'' I paused for them to shake hands. Sadly, Fang continued his grumpy state. A horrifying thought hit me like a piece of lemon meringue pie, and unfortunately, I knew how that felt. F you Brigid.

When Fang had said on multiple occasions that I had a terrible temper, did I really look like how he was poised?

Oh, god. I need anger management classes.

Anywho, back to reality.

I gulped down the numerous emotions and continued. ''Well, uh, back in Arizona, Sam used to be my boyfriend and-''

''_Boy_friend?'' Fang spat as if he was revolted by the idea. I'm pretty sure that blob of saliva was meant to bother Sam when it hit him square in the nose, but he seemed undaunted. *See why I love him so much?*

Despite me being so badass and all, *Oh, shut up! You know it's true.* I was feeling anything but. Fang was being awful scary right now and darn right did it scare the heck outta me. So naturally, even my replies and anything that involved speaking sounded like a freaking mouse.

I swallowed and went on like 'Me? Scared like shit? Nawwh.'

''Yeah, Fang. He was my boyfriend-''

''Was?'' He smirked a bit and sat back on my bed, looking smugly satisfied. I wish I could slap him, but no way was I going to disturb him when he was angry. It was bad enough I'd to put up with him, normally. Nonetheless, I'd never actually seen Fang mad. Not fully, I guess. Back when he had yelled at me and annoyed me with all he had, I knew he was just kidding. But, something told me that Mad Fang was far worse than Mad Max.

*Goodness, I can actually feel the pride being sucked out of me! _Damn you Fang. Damn you to Lissa. Or Brigid. Or hell._ Which one's worse?*

I nodded. ''We broke up when his mom got transfered to New York. I thought I'd never see him again, but he here is!'' I fake-laughed, nervously.

Fang stared at me as if saying, ''You nervous already?'' I rolled my eyes at him and glanced at Sam to see how he was putting up with all this.

Oh, ma-an. He looked fidgety all over, he could be a puppet. And I'd always known Sam to be all confident and strong. Now look at him! God, Fang what have you done? Anger rolled inside me, but I told it to shut up or it would get us killed. Fang was still watching me, and it seemed like a century before he got up and left the room, wordlessly.

But I knew a thousand things were said during that silence. Only Fang could send me silent words like that. And they stung a bit, I admit.

I squeezed back every emotions that battled inside me and for the first time, noticed Nudge, Felicity and Angel disappeared. They had probably rushed out when they saw Fang get into Angry Mode. I couldn't blame them one bit.

''Interesting friend you got there,'' Sam said, carefully. I sighed and motioned for him to sit.

He did and I sat down in front of him, just like we used to. ''We've gotta talk.''

''You bet we do,''

''Sam, you're not making this any easier for me,'' I plead, but he just scoffed.

''You make it sound like we're breaking up. Max, it's cool if you and him are together. I understand, but-''

I cut him off, softly. ''We're not together, Sam. I swear. We're just friends,'' I took one of his hands. ''We're really close friends. That's just it.''

When he didn't reply I continued. ''Fang's usually such a nice person. I don't know what happened!''

He sighed and leaned into me a bit. His hands which were in mine, were brought up to his lips. It was so much like how we used to just sit. He would come to my house and surprise me by entering my room and sneaking up on me. We would just sit there, for hours on my bed, silent. I missed those peaceful times with Sam a lot. But, I couldn't lie and say his time wth me was more enjoyable than the time I had with Fang..

''It's okay, Max. It's fine. My mom, she thought I would be better off in Arizona afterall. When I came back here, my dad said I should get out more. I called your house and Jeb said they had forced you to come down here. So, I figured what the heck. If I came here, we'd be together again.''

As he ended talking, he leaned down and was about to aim for my lips. My eyes widened and on instinct, I ducked making him kiss my forehead. I smiled up at him, as if I intended for that all along, while he just look plain confused.

To break the disturbing silence, I asked him ''How'd you know I was at this cabin. There's like, what, twenty at camp?''

He grinned. ''Mr. Abate told me.''

''Alex?''

''That's his first name?''

I nodded and secretly cursed Alex. If he hadn't told Sam where I was, then Sam wouldn't have been here. Then, I could've had Fang tell me what was on his mind before his dramatic entry. Something told me that what Fang was about to confide with me was important. Well. I'll now never know what it is. Guess I'd just have to beat it out of that meatball.

**FANG'S POV**

I can't _believe_ her. Can't believe her at all.

It's like she's _trying_ to hurt me. And nobody, and I mean no-freakin'-body can hurt me. They don't call me EBW for nothin' you know?

But I know Max. I knew that confused, but hurt look on her face. I knew she didn't mean for that son of a bitch to just _walk_ into her cabin. I knew she would never, intentionally hurt me. Well, except for the whole gutting me thing. Nonetheless, I knew Max. So, naturally, I had to just go ahead and ruin it for her.

The second that creep stepped in, I knew something was up. He was just too, I don't know, _nice_. It's almost like he didn't get the clue that I hated him instantly. He was all smiles, Mr. HappyPants. And that's what bothered me. He wasn't _scared_. Most people would be if I glared at them, even Max was- I could tell by the way she avoided irritating me.

_Max._

God, I wish she doesn't hate me for being a total jerk to her long-lost ex. Well, I _hoped_ he was her ex.

I mean, it's not like I'm jealous of that guy, _Sam. _No way, am I gonna be jealous of him. But, I thought I was always gonna be the guy in Max's life- even if it included just the summer. It's not like I mean that romantically. But, you know, as her best friend.

I wasn't sure of that anymore. The Douche coming to camp was most likely going to ruin everything.

I'd seen enough of those cheezy romantic movies *FYI: My mom made me watch 'em. She needed a person in the room during those tacky, sad scenes so she had, 'some happiness in this messed up world'. So naturally, she threatened me to watch them with her or I'd be grounded.* where the guy's best friend, who coincidentally is a girl goes on a date with another guy. Thus, leaving the poor guy all alone and depressed.

No fucking way, is the amazing, intelligent, hot Fang *So, I'm feeling a bit full of myself. Deal with it.* going to end up like that cheap guy in the movie.

Max is worth fighting for.

**PAGE BREAK, CUZ I'M FEELING A BIT LAZY. DON'T JUDGE; IT'S HAPPENED TO _YOU_ BEFORE.**

I headed towards the music building. After breakfast, was rock-climbing- for both me and Max- but, we'd both skipped it. We had our reasons. Max had pie to get out of her hair. And I just felt like it was too good of an opportunity to not watch her squirming under the hands of Angel, Nudge and Felicity.

Next on my schedule was music. The bane of my existance. Something that always sorted my mind out. Plus, I was the instructor, along with Iggy. I couldn't afford to just skip this one.

I paused right outside the door. Max would be in here, I was sure of it. I hoped Sam wasn't with her.

Psh, I'm not scared even if he was. I cracked my fingers, and put on my show-business face- the one I had on ever since I played music- and stepped inside, bracing myself. Let's do this shit.

**MAX'S POV**

After trying to avoid Sam kissing me, I looked at my watch.

_Shoot. 9:55._

It was music in five minutes. I was gonna be late if I was gonna keep on playing this game. Although Sam seemed to enjoy fucking trying to kiss me.

Hurriedly, I explained that I had music and I was gonna be late if he didn't stop jumping me. Well... I didn't add in the last part. I have a heart you know?

''But, Max!'' he whined and I just rolled my eyes. ''Just one kiss, before you go.''

I grimaced. Something told me not to kiss Sam. _It wouldn't mean anything._

Bu-

_No, Max. Just leave. Fang's waiting._

Bu-

_Do what I say._

And exactly are _you_ to order Maximum freaking Ride around?

_I am ... you. Now go to Fang, he's waiting._

Huh?

I closed my eyes and tried to get the freakish voice outside of my head. It was probably me just talking to myself. It's happened before. What can I say? I had an unusual childhood. But what did the Voice, as I'd named it a long time ago, mean when it said Fang was waiting? Did it have a double meaning? What was that double meaning? Oh God, I'm losing my mind!

''So, honey. Made up your mind yet?'', came a bone-chilling wisper.

I almost yelped when I saw how close to me Sam was. I mean he was _reeaally_ close. I'm talking about hands on my ass, eyes peeking down my shirt close. He'd never been this close to me before, even when we were together. Now, this pervert had the nerve to freaking take a peep at my boobs- NO THANK YOU, BITCH!

Immediately, I brought up my knee and gutted him. It wasn't the kind of gutting I'd do to Fang- those were playful. But, the one I barged into Sam was ironic. He grunted, doubled over in pain and fell back onto my bed. I walked over him, feeling anger roll in huge waves inside me. No way was this ass going to put his ass-germs on my bed. With one kick in his back, he tumbled off my sheets and onto the floor.

''Now, that's where you belong,'' I spat, my face looming over his writhing one. ''And if you could excuse me you perv, I'm going to be late.''

''No, Max- wait!''

''Shut up! Now, leave before I make you.''

He gave me a pleading look, one which, normally I would've gave into so easily. But, he betrayed my trust in such a short period of time! I mean I know we were still sorta a couple when he left, give and take the long distance relationship he had insisted on. When he came here, he was such a gentleman- all smiles and cheerfulness. Then all of a sudden, when Fang stepped out the door, he just threw his manners out the window! WTF, dude, WTF.

''Get out! Or I'm calling camp security!'' I snarled. I didn't even know if camp had security. Maybe they did for freaking rapers like the one crawling out the door in front of me.

Oh, yeah. I'd made Sam McCallen crawl.

**Keep on crawling, creep. Ahha, so you like? Dun like? It was okaaaay... I guess a bit of a filler, but hey you got your Fang's POV! And, yes I know I need to work on his sarcasm a bit... but for now, he can't sound TOO sarcastic, cuz he's in pain :( So yeah, I'll do a better job next time . **

**OOOHHH, before I forget, I need you guys to suggest a few songs to me. Yes, yes I know I asked the last time too, but I'm not much of a song fic person so pleeeaaasse, gimme a few songs to spare. Next chapter's gonna be a music session and Max sings a song on either **

**i.) Breaking up with Sam (try to suggest a song all badass and Max type- not some sleazy my-boyfriend-dumped-me song (; ) OR**

**ii.) Apologizing to Fang for Sam's coming to camp (even though it's not her fault) OR**

**iii.) Explaining to Fang how much he means to her .**

**Songs for Fang also accepted. Gimme whatever you have. (:**

**REMEMBER: No too mushy songs allowed. LOL, jks. Send me in any song you think is fit. (;**

_REVIEWS!_

_**:)** You smiled evilly at how Max made Sam crawl at the end. _

_**:(** You wish Sam would stop being such a crapbag. _

_**:D** You laughed at how Fang was scaring Max._

_**D':** Poor Fangalator._

_**?_?** You wonder which one's worse- Lissa, Brigid or hell. _

_**FUB** You want to walk up to every perv in the world and yell ''F*ck you, b*tch''._

_ You have a nice little song for the next chapter-_?__


	14. Emotions, Gotta Love 'Em!

**Okay, I'll shamelessly admit it- yesterday (Jan 4th) was my brithday! WOOHOO! Ahha, but no damn excuses for being so late.. except for Christmas break. I'd gone to my.. homeland, I guess you could call it and forgot to take my laptop. And NO, not telling you where I went. Take that, stalkers! This chapter took a long time and I can only hope it was worth the wait. (: A big, enormous thanks to **Onyx Shadows **for suggesting the song, Ignorance to me! Thank you so much! An extra big thanks to all my sweet, lovable reviewers who also took time out of their lives to present ****me with other song choices. You guys are the reason I update in the first place. LOVE YOU GUYS! :)**

**joloco311:** Ahha, thank you so much! ^.^ Also thanks tonnes for the idea. I'll be sure to incorporate it in sometime, in some chapter. (: I'm not sure about Eggy, Ella and Total.. yet. Maybe. You'll just have to wait and see. (;

**Serenaisbestezrq387, MCH, Light Iron Girder, Onyx Shadows, Badanah, endless-winters127, jayfeatherrocks: **Thanks guys for suggesting song choices to me. Really appreciate it. Don't feel bad if I haven't used the song. Chances are, I'll use them in other chapters. Once again, THANK YOU!

* * *

><p>Where the hell was she? It was, like only two more minutes until she got late. Here at camp, counsellors hate it when kids are late. I, for one, don't really care. The kid's late- too bad, so sad. Whatever. I'm not gonna waste my time on yelling at the poor sap.<p>

But, knowing that Max was with Sam, probably smooching kisses all over him made my blood boil. So I was probably gonna be shrieking at her when she came through that door. Yes. Shrieking. Pathetic, I know. But, honestly Max can make me do anything. Even shriek. Or like wear pink.

Um, never mind pink. No freaking way.

''Dude, calm down. She'll be here any time.'' Iggy said, putting his palm on my shoulder. I know he was trying to help. I didn't even tell him about Sam but he found out somehow and knew I was pissed. He's a great best friend like that, but right now I couldn't think. Without realizing it, I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and walked away over to the mic, a stone-hard expression on my face.

The second I started speaking, Max entered, a crazy expression on her face. Not like mental crazy, I-wanna-rip-someone's-head-off crazy. I left my stoic look on and spoke into the microphone not looking at her.

''Hey, guys. Um, we are going to play a bit today. But, perhaps we'll give our friend Max over here a chance to sing. It's been a while anyway.'' I said, flatly.

Max hated to be the center of attention in the room. No, she hated to be the center of attention period. Despite her showing up, I was still a bit mad about... well, everything really. A little pay-back wouldn't hurt would it?

Well, apparently it would because Max gave me a death-glare and it looked like she wanted to shoot my head off. Whatever. She'd have to sing first.

I just left my face impassive and blended back into the stage's shadows, smirking to myself. Nice work, Fang. Nice work.

Max whispered some in Iggy's ear, most likely the song she wanted and Iggy turned and gave me a sad smile. I frowned. What was she gonna play? He walked over while Max readied herself for the drums and he said, somewhat sheepishly, ''You gonna do guitar?''

''Nope. She can do this on her own. I'll be back here,'' I snapped, and immediately added when I knew I'd sounded like a jerk. ''Ask Ryan to play bass.''

''I meant electric.''

''You do that.''

His eyes shifted between Max and I, but then he left to pick up his red electric guitar on the stand. I studied Max. She was twisting the drumsticks between her fingers, she did that whenever she was nervous. However, now she did it with more force, almost like she wanted to chop those in half.

All of a sudden, her head turned sharply and caught my eyes. She locked them with mine. They were fierce and angry at first, but then turned soft. The hard line that was her mouth, curled into a small smile. Her whole face relaxed. But it was only for, like a second.

Talk about bipolar.

She turned back to the drumset that expression back on her face. God, she looked hot when she was angry.

..

..

Forget that last line. I command you.

Shaking, my head I turned my head back to Max, Iggy and Ryan.

The guitars both played at first. It was a familiar beat. And I looked back at Max to see any hint of why she picked this song. Usually, there was a reason. All I got, was her staring ahead of the crowd, that fierce look playing its part when she started playing the drums. Her voice dropped soft but I could hear the anger behind it.

_If I'm a bad person, you don't like me  
><em>_Well, I guess I'll make my own way  
><em>_It's a circle, a mean cycle  
><em>_I can't excite you anymore_

_Were's your gavel Your jury?  
><em>_What's my offense this time?  
><em>_You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me  
><em>_Well sentence me to another life_

_Don't wanna hear your sad songs  
><em>_I don't wanna feel your pain  
><em>_When you swear it's all my fault  
><em>_Cause you know we're not the same  
><em>_No we're not the same, oh we're not the same._

_Yeah we're the friends who stuck together  
><em>_We wrote our names in blood  
><em>_But I guess you can't accept that the change is good  
><em>_It's good, it's good_

I was speechless. Here Max was singing openly about what I meant to her now- nothing. I wanted to hit something, hard. The wall looked pretty good but this room was my responsibility. If there was a hole in the wall, Alex would most likely fire me or sentence me to kitchen duty. I don't know which one's worse.

Oh, to hell with responsibilities! I turned around and shoved my fist into the wall behind me.

My first thought: _Ow_.

Second: Damn, this dent's gonna come out on my paycheck.

Third: Max looks even hotter when she's playing the drums with that burning look in her eye.

Then again, those are thoughts- not words. _Thank God_, they're not words.

Surprisingly, Max didn't notice. She was oh too busy singing.

_Well you treat me just like another stranger  
><em>_Well it's nice to meet you, sir  
><em>_I guess I'll go I best be on my way out  
><em>_You treat me just like another stranger  
><em>_Well it's nice to meet you sir  
><em>_I guess I'll go I best be on my way out_

_This is the best thing that could've happened  
><em>_Any longer and I wouldn't have made it  
><em>_It's not a war no, it's not a rapture  
><em>_I'm just a person but you can't take it_

_The same tricks that, that once fooled me  
><em>_They won't get you anywhere  
><em>_I'm not the same kid from your memory  
><em>_Well now I can fend for myself_

_Don't wanna hear your sad songs  
><em>_I don't wanna feel your pain  
><em>_When you swear it's all my fault  
><em>_Cause you know we're not the same  
><em>_No, we're not the same, oh we're not the same_

_Yeah we used to stick together  
><em>_We wrote our names in blood  
><em>_But I guess you can't accept that the change is good  
><em>_It's good, it's good_

_Well you treat me just like another starnger  
><em>_Well it's nice to meet you sir  
><em>_I guess I'll go I best be on my way out_

_You treat me just like another stranger  
><em>_Well it's nice to meet you sir  
><em>_I guess I'll go I best be on my way out_

_Ignorance is your new best friend  
><em>_Ignorance is your new best friend  
><em>_Ignorance is your new best friend  
><em>_Ignorance is your new best friend_

_Well you treat me just like another stranger  
><em>_Well it's nice to meet you sir I guess I'll go I best be on my way out  
><em>_You treat me just like another stranger  
><em>_Well it's nice to meet you sir I guess I'll go I best be on my way out_

As she finished singing, I began to turn away in disgust. And in a whole other things I'd rather not say. I was through with all this!

Was it _me_ who just went all lovey-dovey-I-don't-give-a-damn-about-your-life-I'll-just-make-out-with-the-love-of-of-my-life-in-front-of-you-'cause-I-just-don't-care?

Woah. That was a long one.

Nevertheless, no it wasn't me! It was her!

So I have all the right in the world to just leave the one job I have at camp and probably regret it later!

Max, however, had other plans.

She saw me get off the stage and with a desperate look in those brown eyes, rushed after me. I was already out the building though, walking away as fast as I could.

''Hey!''

I closed my eyes and clenched the immediate will to whip around and snap at her.

''Fang!''

Too late. Here it comes.

''What?'' I stopped and faced her. Max winced at the acid in my voice. She opened her mouth but I interrupted, yet again making her wince. ''If you're gonna tell me you're sorry, don't even freaking bother! You told me everything you had to in that!'' I pointed at the music building.

She clenched her eyes shut and put her fingers over them, as if warding off a bright light. A sad expression came over her and I would've comforted her if I wasn't so damn angry.

''You thought that was about you?'' she asked steadily, testing her voice. And I've to admit, I broke a little when I realized she was trying hard not to cry. ''You really think that I would sing that song and point it at you?''

I was confused. ''What do you mean, Max?'' I tried for a softer tone.

Max looked up at me, biting her lip and I was shocked when I saw her eyes puffy and red. She was already crying. I didn't need anymore signs. I reached my arms out and she stepped into them, gratefully. Tears were now rolling down her cheeks and I could tell she was holding back sobs.

''Ssh,'' I said softly. God, I'm turning into such a softie. But it was worth. For Max, it was sooo flipping worth.

''I-I'm through with him,'' she tried between heart-wrenching sobs. ''And here you are, Fang, thinking that that song was about you.''

Just like that, I wasn't so angry anymore.

**MAX'S POV**

Being in Fang's arms was probably the only good thing that happened that day.

With all the stupid emotions flying around- shock, pain, anger- I just couldn't think straight. I needed someone. I needed Fang. When he vigourously turned his back on me, I finally cracked.

But now, it was all worth because he was whispering things I'd never thought him to whisper in my ear. I listened to all of it and felt my wound healing. Slowly, but healing.

''I'm sorry,'' Fang murmured into my hair. ''So sorry, Max.''

''Why the heck should you be sorry, huh Sherlock?'' I frowned and pulled back to look at him. ''This isn't your fault.''

''Stop lying, Max. You suck at it.''

''Aren't you supposed to be comforting me?''

Fang chuckled quietly and pulled me back to him. And right then, right there, something clicked.

**AAWW! So cute, Maxie ^.^ LOL, I love the the last line. Adorable, huh? Anywho, REVIEW TIME!**

**Usually, I leave those fun emoticons for you guys, so you have something to review about. This time, can I leave the reviewing to you? LOL, I wanna see what you guys can come up with... feel free to use those emoticons in your review but make sure to have a 'definition' next to it. (;**

**See you guys in your reviews!**

**-MRforever44**


	15. The Tree

**Yello, sorry for taking long to update, people. I've got a holiday on Monday and I'm so glad I could've squeezed this chapter in. And, omg , just thought I'd share this moment with you guys... **

**I GOT MY FIRST KISS ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 13th, 2012! Yeup. That's right. **_Lemme tell you people, you're first kiss is always the best one_**. It felt like was flying! And he's sooo perfect! Just like Fang, except for the grey eyes, I guess. Dark clothing, black hair, OLIVE SKIN... Gosh, I love his olive skin... Okiie, so just for your knowledge, thought you guys would want to know. And yeah, even his name's hot. But, what sucks is he's doesn't go to my school. He's one of my brother's friends and my brother doesn't even know we kissed in my walk-in closet. And no, it wasn't disgusting/sloppy. It was pretty nice... if I do say so myself. **

**bughailz: **Aww, thank you! And, oh God, you serious? LOL, tell you're sis happy belated birthday from this girl (yes, I'm a girl) from the Maximum Ride fandom! Oh, and tell her not to be scared. We're all friends here. (; But it's okay if she thinks I'm stalking her. She doesn't know me.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

''You okay?'' Fang asked. ''Can I let go now? My arms are tired.'' He'd been holding me for a while now, simply because I wasn't quite ready to let him go. I think any girl or guy for that matter, would agree with me for sure. I know I sound like a stalker when I say his hair smelled like pineapple, lemon, kiwi and a whole dang lot of other nice-smelling stuff. The whole freaking world wants to know what kind of shampoo Fang uses, I'm sure of it.

I clung on to him tighter and knew he was grinning. That bonehead. ''Hey, this is probably my only chance to hug you. I'm not gonna waste the oppurtunity.'', I said and felt him grin even more.

Rolling my eyes, I let my arms drop from his neck and stepped away, reluctantly. He smiled, softly and brushed a small tear from my cheek. His finger stayed there for another two seconds before dropping to his sides and leaving my cheek burn up. What was with this guy and his magic fingers?

''You okay?'', he asked, softer this time and scrunching his eyebrows together and pursing his lips. Gosh, he looks cute when he does that. And that's the damn truth- enda discussion. ''What'd he do?''

I frowned slightly and looked down at my converse, dug in my toe and pushed around a pile of dust. ''Acted like a complete pervert,'' I answered, spitefully. ''Tried to look down my shirt. Probably was gonna rape me.'' Fang continued the whole cute look, and listened to everything I said before quietly saying, ''I'm sorry.''

''It's not your fault, Fang. How many times-''

''Well, I'm sorry anyway!'' he interrupted, his eyes blazing. ''Sorry for not being there to kick his creepy ass! Sorry for just ignoring you like a jerk! Sorry for not telling you...''

He trailed off, not looking at me. His moment of anger had subsided but, I knew there was something he wasn't telling me. I wasn't going to push him, like I usually would. Something told me to let him decide whatever was wrong on his own. So I just royally, changed the topc.

''Guess we should get back on schedule.'' I pointed my thumb back at the music building and began to walk away from Fang, but his hand reached out and caught my wrist.

At a surprsingly high rate, my whole body burst into flames starting where his fingers were linked around my small wrist. Fang's new name is Magic Fingers- there, it's settled.

''What?'' I asked, totally covering up for the magic fingers act. I turned around to find him smirking.

Fang raised his eyebrows, slightly and motioned me to come closer. It was such a corny move that I almost burst in laughter right then, right there. But, I held it in and obliged to walk over to him. When I was standing right next to him, he leant down and whispered huskily in my ear. ''I was thinking...''

''Mmhm?''

''...That maybe..''

''Yeah?''

''...We could..''

''Would you get on with it?'' I burst and glared at him, impatiently.

Fang's eyebrows disappeared in his scruffy, dark hair. ''Someone's a bit pushy today.'' he stated, amused.

''Well, 'scuse me if I've a bad day.'' I retorted. ''Now will you just tell me?''

He smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. Like he knew just how to torture me- which he did. Stupid Magic Finger Bonehead. I pretty much lost it and poked his chest wth my finger, harshly. Oww. What was under that shirt of his? Fang caught it expertly and leaned down to whisper again. ''Maybe we could just skip music?''

My jaw dropped open. If we skipped, not only would Alex be on my case for skipping, but Fang might get fired. ''You nuts?'' I hissed, and couldn't hep but notice my finger was still planted to his chest.

Fang noticed, cleared his throat and let go of my finger. (Was is just me or did he just turn red?) ''Well, seeing as how you've had a,''- he made air quotes- ''Bad day, I could just skip class.''

''But-''

''Iggy can take care of class. 'Sides, Ryan was pretty good on stage today.''

I looked at him and crossed my arms, letting a cheesy smile take over my lips. Fang saw it coming and gave me a 'Let 'er rip' look. ''Aww, is Magic Fingers willing to lose his job for me? Feeling a bit sentimental, aren't you Fingers?

Fang groaned but then a perplexed expression came on his face. ''Magic Fingers?'', he asked, quizically.

Upset that Fang had avoided my taunting, I scowled and snapped, ''It's a nice name, okay? Don't mock it.''

''Wow, Max. You're so creative.''

''Thank you.''

Fang chortled, (no, not the way Edward does it) and said, ''If you're done, can we get going?''

Sighing, I gave in. I mean, it wasn't like Iggy would tattle or anything. I'm sure he and Ryan could take care of a bunch of kids. It wasn't mission impossible, so let the afternoon with Fang begin. Iggy would be teaching music, while Fang and I were elsewhere.

Speaking of elsewhere, ''Where exactly are we going?''

Fang gave me the 'look', which frankly, could make Albert Einstein feel stupid and proceded into explaining that camp had several places where kids could just hang out. The lake was one of them, but seeing as it would bring back bad memories of Fang getting the life beaten out of him, we both agreed on somewhere else. Somewhere 'magical'. (Oh, look at me. I'm getting all Disney-y) A place where you could see the whole camp.

The Tree.

Yep. Sorry for the dramatic build-up.

It didn't sound so exciting when Fang told me either. But when he got into the details of it being the highest point at camp and you could see everything and everyone, I happily agreed. Besides, back in San Diego, I did a lot of hiking and climbing. So this would just bring back memories of home. A place where now, I didn't want to go back to.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

''How much longer?'' I whined. This was riciculous. It was almost half an hour! I was beginning to have seconds thoughts of coming here.

Fang looked back at me and smirked. ''What? Tired already?''

''No!'' I snarled and kicked dust at him. ''Just thinkin' that maybe this isn't worth. People are gonna be wondering where we are!''

''Well, then _people_ should mind their own business. 'Sides, they'll just have to settle for thinking we're on a date.''

I scowled and tried to hide my blush. Failing might I add. Fang saw it and smirked even more. Jackass. He gets all his pleasure out of teasing innocent people, doesn't he? Whatever. I would soooo be laughing when I was climbing faster than him. And he'd be down below, chanting out apologies. I can just see it.

Lost in my own thoughts of Fang worshipping my awesomeness, I hadn't realized we made it until I walked straight into Fang, stupidly. Was it my fault if he just happened to stop walking?

''Max, we're here, '' he stated and I rolled my eyes.

''No! Really? Had no freakin' idea! Really Fang, I think you're starting to get more alert than me! I mean-''

My chin was suddenly yanked away from facing Fang and all of a sudden, I was facing a huge, _ginormous _tree. My eyes widened just at the sight of it. I don't exagerrate when I say it was huge. I couldn't even see its top branch and I swear clouds were circling it a the top. Its branches spread out as wide as possible and leaves decorated every single inch. The trunk was atleast four metres thick. Atleast. ''Wow.'' I said, lost for words.

''Yeah, I know.'' Fang murmured next to me.

I squinted my eyes, because the sun was right behind the center of the tree and was casting huge rays. Angels were singing all around.

Knocked out of my reverie, I laughed and shouted, ''Race you to the top!''

I was already inching onto the bark, when Fang ran up next to me, chuckling.

We climbed in silence for what seemed like ten minutes, reaching about halfway. I could already see camp- it's lake, small building, kids running around, a few sunflower fields scattered here and there, the sun shining brightly above them. I could see everything and never felt so... so strong, I guess. Boy, do birds get the paradise or what?

After climbing for a few more minutes, I settled for a branch where I had a really clear view of everything. Fang was a few inches diagonal from me and a bit on top. He too, was staring ahead with a soft look on his face.

''Beautiful, huh?''

I nodded. ''Yeah.''

''Glad I brought you here?''

I smiled, look over at him and asked, playfully, ''Like on a date?''

Fang gazed at me for a bit, before replying casually, ''Sure, if you want it to be.''

Saying that I was 'holy-shit-did-you-just-say-that' surprised was probably an understatement.

I stared at Fang, my mouth in a wide 'o', my eyes widened like golf balls and just wondering how in the damn world he could just say that out in the open. I mean for him it was like he was talking about how nice the weather was. For me, it was like I'd gotten slapped in the face, thrown into a pool of concrete and, and... something else which is equally as worse!

Fang seemed to notice my attractive golf balls staring at him and admitted himself a small smirk, mocking me...

I have to say, I took that pretty well.

I threw a twig at him, one that he easily dodged with an amused expression.

Then, seeing as how good that went, I shifted myself so my back was facing him and crossed my arms, a scowl on my face.

I already knew Fang was rolling his eyes, at my feeble attempt to ignore him. But, thank God he shut up and didn't say anything for the next fifteen minutes.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

''Whatcha starin' at?''

I frowned a bit and looked at Fang. ''Hm?''

''You were staring at something.'' Fang's dark eyes looked deep into mine, trying to figure out what was on my mind. He had managed to cross his legs and balance himself on his branch, without falling of, but he was also facing me.

I frowned more and thought back to what I was looking at, without realizing. ''The lake.''

''The lake? What about it?''

''I was just thinking back to the other night- you know, the gang...'' I replied, trailing off on purpose. Fang noticed how I didn't mention it was also the night I'd kissed him. I don't know why I didn't say it. It wasn't like it meant anything anyway. I just couldn't bring myself to think about it.

We stood there, in silence and I knew what was on both of our minds. It was only a matter of minutes, one of us brought it up. And I'd make sure it wasn't going to be me. Whether he wanted to talk about it or not, was up to himself, but no way, was I going to think about that confusing, mind-twisting night. Not even Fang could trap me into talking about it.

He sighed softly, and said in a raspy voice, ''It was my first, you know?''

I regarded him with a confused expression.

''The kiss- it was my first kiss,'' he explained, still in a hoarse tone.

This time, I actually turned to face him properly, because that absolutely, _comepletely _caught me off-guard. ''It was?''

He looked embarassed but replied, ''Yeah. That's why I kinda freaked out on you after.'' Fang smiled, deviously to himself.

''But- but, you're _you_!'' I sputtered, not controlling what was coming out of my mouth. ''You're Fang! You must've kissed a girl before! I mean you're like what- sixteen? How could I, Max Ride, be you're first kiss? Lissa! She must've snogged your mouth before right?''

Yup. As you can see, I took that pretty well. I'm not gonna bore you with the other highly embarassing stuff I said after that, because then you'd have something to blackmail me with. With every word I said, Fang grew more amused. Especially at the Lissa part.

But I couldn't help but register my shock. Fang was what every girl could've wanted- kind, smart, funny, and don't forget hot. I might as well admit that too. How could he take so long to kiss a girl?

''Max, shut up,'' I heard an annoyed voice, and I immediately stopped my rant and stared at Fang, my brain still rattling hard against my skull.

''Excuse me?''

''Oh, you're mouth?'' Fang said, like he was talking about the weather. ''Yeah, can you shut it for a bit?''

''But-'', I started, still on a role. But, Fang shut me up.

''Can you just let me explain?'' he sighed and looked at me earnestly. I blushed from embarrasment of my outburst and nodded. He gave me a small grin and continued. ''Yeah, I know it's hard to believe. Fang never kissed a girl before. Yada, yada, yada. Back in school, girls were doing the same stuff they are to me now. Flirting. And other stuff I'd rather not talk about.''

He paused and grinned at me, while I just rolled my eyes.

''I just completely went outta my way to ignore them. Same stuff happens here,'' He threw his hand at camp. ''Even with Lissa- yeah, she'd try to kiss me more than once, but I'd just pull away. I'd never let a girl, or _anyone_ for that matter, get too close to me. It was just instinct.''

''What about Iggy? You guys are close.'' I stated and proceded to climp over and sit on his branch. The wind was blocking some of his words from me and I wanted to hear him more clearly. Fang shifted a bit so I could have more space and replied my question. ''Yeah, we are. But that's only 'cuz I've known him for as long as I can remember. He's always had my back.''

I smiled at Fang's choice of words. I'd never hear him speak like this before and it was... nice. ''What about me, then?'' I asked, genuinely curious. Fang actually smiled his full, complete smile, not the half one and looked down at me, perched next to him.

''You... I don't know,'' he considered it and tucked a small piece of my hair behind my ear. ''When I met you, I just _had_ to get to know you, Max. I'd never met anyone like you, so I just... let things flow. And then I realized how much I needed you. How much brighter the day seemed to be around you. How boring the day was when you were elsewhere. So, just like that, you were my best friend.''

I stood there, stupidly. In complete awe of what I just heard. Fang talking about what went on inside that emotionless brick wall brain of his.

''I'm your best friend?'' I asked, my voice raw from shock.

Fang looked deep in my eyes and nodded, solemnly. ''Yeah,'' he paused as if considering if it was safe to continue. ''Max, in a way, I'm glad you were my first kiss.''

I almost fell of the branch. Thank God, Fang reached out and caught me, bringing me back to him. Closer than we were before, I couldn't help but register. ''Really?'' I asked, still in a raw voice.

He slid my hand inside of his warm, calloused one in reply. ''I'm glad that I kissed someone who I _knew_ I could trust,'' he whispered, before looking me dead straight in the eyes and slowly, so so slowly leaning down to set his lips, gently on mine.

**I should go to jail. I really should. Sorry, for cutting it off right there but the chapter was getting pretty lengthy so I cut it off. Bet you guys didn't see that coming! (; You wanted the kiss, I wanted the kiss, Fang DEFINITELY wanted the kiss, and so did the rest of the goddamn world. So there you go. I gave you a kiss. Happy?**

**(: AAWWW. You two should just get married.**

**): Neeeh.**

**(; *wink wink*, Fang. Nice way to kiss a girl..**

**:D You laughed at how Max was like, ''The whole freakin' world wants to know Fang's shampoo.'' And you know you want the shampoo too. **

**You were getting all twitchy at how long I was taking to make those two kiss.**

**:* You always dreamt that there would be a kissing booth with Fang giving off the kisses.**

**:$ Someone caught you dreaming about Fang's kissing booth.**

**REVIEW!**

**-MRforever44**


	16. Go With The Flow

Exam week is by far, the best week eva! 'Cause watching my friends freak out like they haven't had enough coffee (or too much..?) is just hilarious. And plus, I think I did good. So yeah, just thought you guys would wanna know that and feel self-conscious 'cause maybe you were one of those wild wackos losing it. All 'cuz sheets of paper with questions on them. Hands up if you feel ashamed.

Anywho, the last chapter definitely seemed to get a rise outta you guys. You were all hectic. :P That's the effect I wanted, thank you very much. So I guess I can say, BOOYAH!

Random: A few nights ago, when I was getting ready to leave for a movie, my dad just came up to me and went, ''So you aren't going to write about Fang tonight?'' I was as speechless as when my friend thought Max was a guy.

**To all those sweet reviewers who congratulated me on something I didn't think you guys would even care about**: Thanks a bunch! Hope you had or will get the best first kiss ever too! *Tear, tear*

* * *

><p><em>Previously...<em>

_.__.. Fang looked deep in my eyes and nodded, solemnly. ''Yeah,'' he paused as if considering if it was safe to continue. ''Max, in a way, I'm glad you were my first kiss.''_

_I almost fell of the branch. Thank God, Fang reached out and caught me, bringing me back to him. Closer than we were before, I couldn't help but register. ''Really?'' I asked, still in a raw voice._

_He slid my hand inside of his warm, calloused one in reply. ''I'm glad that I kissed someone who I knew I could trust,'' he whispered, before looking me dead straight in the eyes and slowly, so so slowly leaning down to set his lips, gently on mine._

Well, hot damn, that's a way to change a mood.

The moment his lips touched mine, I immediately went all nutsy. My eyes widened as big as dinner plates and my heart went all maniac-y. From shock, my hands which were resting on the branch, slipped out and I nearly lost my balance, before righting myself. Dammit, I almost fell out of the tree. Again. And again, Fang caught my wrist and pulled me back, his lips still on mine. I could tell he was grinning a bit. Idiot.

But, being an idiot didn't stop me from kissing him.

I just stood there, for awhile, thinking how different Fang's lips were to Sam's. Hate to admit it, but they were soo much better. Don't give me that look. It's true! And no, I'm not going to explain how soft and lucious they were. That would be wierd.

Anywho, before I knew it, I had myself shifted myself so I was properly facing him and hesistantly, put my arms around his smooth neck, pulling him closer. If that was even possible.

Fang tentatively, almost like he was testing my limits, slid his hand from my wrist to my waist. There was absolutely nothing between us now. He and I were practically glued together. But, the kiss was still sweet I guess. Not sloppy or gross. I liked it.

I know, I know. I should've stopped. Should've pulled away. He was my best friend and friends don't go around kissing eachother. _And_, the fact that I'd broken up with my boyfriend less than a two hours ago didn't help. Wasn't I supposed to wait awhile before I kissed someone? Wasn't I supposed to be somewhere crying my eyes out and eating ice cream? Or was this all part of the 'depression'? Doing something so completely rash in order to feel better?

Ugh.

But... something told me to go with the flow and figure myself out later. That if I backed away now, it would make me look like a chicken or something. So just like that I actually put my heart and soul into the kiss.

*God, that was so cliché.*

**FANG'S POV (damn right, I cut Max off)**

Don't ask me _why_ I'd kissed her in the first place. 'Cuz I sure as heck, don't know why I did myself. It was just something... the way Max was. Special. And don't forget different. Something told me if I hadn't done it, it would bother me for as long as I'd remember. Plus, we were talking about how she'd given me my first kiss (cue Fangirl _gasps_) and I just got caught in the moment okay?

Anywho, back to the _motherfreakingshit_ kiss.

Max nearly fell off on impact. Where my lips really that rough? Geez, I need some lip balm.

I pulled her back and to my surprise, she didn't slap me or something. Instead, she just stood there. Not doing anything for about five horrible seconds, while I was wondering- or more like worrying- if Max was too horrified to do anything.

Thankfully, after those five gut-wrenching seconds, she twisted akwardly to put her arms around my neck. Woah. She was kissing me back. I expected her to like, push me off the branch or something, but no.

Maximum frickin' Ride was kissing me.

Booyah!

The next second, I had my hands around her waist and leaning in to her kiss her better. I wasn't supposed to be good at this. This was like, my second kiss. But, by the way Max was burying her fingers in my hair and whatnot, I decided I wasn't that bad. Max wasn't half bad either. It was then I realized she had experienced what it was like to kiss someone before. Sam. Obviously, she'd kissed him.

Oh, crap.

Sam! Forget about the douche.

Max had just broken up with him and here she was kissing me. I mean, I guess it wasn't wrong or anything but aren't people supposed to space out in relationships? Ugh, how would I know? The only 'realationsip' I've ever been in was with Lissa. And it wasn't like I actually saw her as a girlfriend.

Yet, I'd saw it on TV, you know? Those annoying TV shows which my Mom made me watch with her. The girl breaks up with her boyfriend, goes through a state of depression from the break-up and avoids guys until she's 'ready'. Max may have been enormously tough, but come on, everyone needs a break right? Even I would, if I was in that position.

The only way to give Max her 'break' was to stop kissing her. Nevertheless, it's hard to stop something you started.

So, naturally I failed.

When I'd tried to pull away, by softly grabbing her hands and removing them from my neck, she scowled. And then went ahead to get my T-shirt collar, pulling me back. Well, this is just dandy. Max is nothing if not persistant. I guess I was kind of flattered.

Again, I took hold of her shoulders and as gently as possible, pulled her away from me. Max seemed to know why I was doing this and she sighed. *But, oh gosh, it was like I still had her on my lips. Damn whatever makes Max's lips taste like peaches! And other stuff... Mm.*

Okay, enough of my hormonal rant.

Right now, Max had this look of wonder on her face. It gave me frickin' chills thinking that I gave her that.

All of a sudden, she turned to face me and said, ''You're unfairly good at this.''

Smirking, I turned away to hide my blush. Yes, sexy man beasts like me also blush. But, I looked at her from the corner of my eyes and was thoroughly surprised. She was grinning to herself and had her head thrown back. Yeah, yeah. It was a bit cliché. Whatever. That's just how Max rolls. She slowly brought down her head and laughed. ''Sorry.''

''S'okay. Besides, I was just gonna say the same thing,'' I turned my head to her, all while inwardly laughing at how dumbfounded she became at my every word. ''And of the two kisses I've ever had, this was pretty damn incredible.''

Max rolled her eyes. ''So you're saying you didn't like the first one?''

''Nawh. Just saying it was a bit rushed.''

''I have been enlightened.'' Max stuck her tongue out at me.

We stood there for awhile. Doing nothing but staring at each other. We both knew what was running through our minds. It was only a matter of time before one of us actually brought it up. Max sighed and broke our stares to look out at camp. ''Speaking of rushed,'' she paused and bit her lip. ''Don't you think... this is a bit, I don't know.. quick?'' She ended the question quietly, like she was scared.

''Depends on what you're feeling, Max.'' I answered, hoping to see the expression on her face.

She gave a little laugh and leaned back against the tree. ''Well.. I think, we should just...'' Max looked up at me, beckoning me to say what was on her mind. I looked at her and gave a small smile.

''Go with the flow.'' We finished together, grinning after at the alikeness of our thoughts.

* * *

><p>Is it as crappy as I think it is? Damn it. Anyway, I have a question for you guys and it's really been bugging me so here it is: <strong>Do your parents know you go on fanfiction? Do they even <em>know<em> what fanfiction is? **I ask this 'cuz as said in my above author's note, my dad knew about how I write stories about Maximum Ride. And I didn't even frickin' know he did! So, yeah. I'm trynna find out how he got a hold of all this.

It is possible to focus on finishing a chapter while watching Lord Of The Rings? I think not.

**REVIEW!**

**X.X I thought you had fallen off the face of the earth... WELCOME BACK!**

**:O Man, Gollum in Lord of The Rings is freaky.**

**(: You smiled at how Max and Fang's first REAL kiss went.**

**): Uuuuh. Nawh. **

**:D You laughed when Fang called himself a sexy man beast.**

**O.O You'll be waiting for the future FAX. **

**:/ Not awesome ending.**

**-.- Dammit, MRforever44, why don't you update fast for me? (PLEASE)**

**-MRforever44**


	17. IMPORTANT!

**Hey guys! Don't worry, I'll try to keep this note as short as possible. But, please read or atleast skim through it- it's important! **

**The reason I haven't updated in like, forever, is because ever since the last chapter, (the one with the kiss and Max giving in and all) I really am stumped on how to take this story from there. I made a huge mistake by not planning it out and just writing whatever I felt like, and it came back to bite me in the butt. I don't want to rush this story because then it'll become total crap. So I'm not going to continue it. **

**Hold it. Don't go freaking out on me. **

**I'm not going to continue this story, because when I reread a few chapters for fun, I was atually shielding my eyes from the screen. I want to rewrite it all over again. I've contemplated on doing this for a long time and yes, I know I'm practically throwing this story down the drain, but I'm not completely.**

** Another story will be written with (kind of) the same plot: Max's parents forcing her into a camp which she hates. Max meeting Fang. Them too falling for each other and so on, so forth. **

**But, the new story will also have a different plot from this one, to make it better (well, in my opinion) and I'm going to try making it as fun-'n'-faxy to read as possible. It will have better vocab, punctuation, and ideas. It will _not_ have the extreme disorder of events (noticing that I wrote the food fight chapter, up to the second kiss chapter all happening in one day made me want to cry at how unplanned and messed up this story is) and I'll try keeping my paranoia and tackiness to a minimum. **

**The new story will have a new title as well, because _this_ title makes me want to run into a wall. If you have any suggestions, please submit them through your reviews or PM me. I have a few ideas but none of them are great...**

**I will try having the first chapter of the new story updated this week or so. Thanks guys, so much for reading this story and supporting it even through its flaws! I hope the newer story will satisfy your need for Fax and I really hope you guys enjoy it as much as this one. Bear with me on this, okay?**

**-MRforever44 (: **


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